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CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE SHERIFF JERRY L. DEMINGS May 11, 2017 Sheriff Jerry L. Demings Orange County Sheriff's Office 2500 West Colonial Drive Orlando, Florida 32804 See endorsement Comments. D Dear Sheriff Demings: On December 8, 2016, you charged your Citizens Advisory Committee with reviewing the Orange County Sheriff's Office's (OCSO) policies and practices of handling complaints and the reporting of the results of investigations to the public. This charge covered how complaints are received and dispersed and the way the complaints are closed and reported to the community. You directed the committee to submit recommendations based on the review of in-depth research on current operations, policies, and best practices. The following is a brief summary of the process the committee used to identify its recommendations: The committee met 3 times for presentations and discussions with OCSO staff. Presentations included an overview of the current process by Lieutenant Sean McCormack. Captain Dennis Strange provided the committee with current policies and a review of proposed changes. Guidance through the current and past forms and past history of the process was given by Ms. Beth Yearty. Citizens of Orange County were allowed to present their views and thoughts through the public comments at the meetings. All meeting dates were announced to the public via the agency website. No additional feedback was given by those citizens in attendance. During the presentations and review, several documents were analyzed during the process, to include: • OCSO Policy Before/After Amendments Citizen Complaint Form Commendation and Complaint Brochures Accreditation standards • Early Identification System printout Forms associated with complaints and investigations After a thorough review and many hours of independent study, the Sheriff's Citizens Advisory Committee voted unanimously to recommend the following: 6/8/17 Citizens Advisory Committee Recommendation Letter May 11, 2017 Page 2 Recommendation number 1: Increase the agency's ability to capture citizen complaints Policy/Procedure, Best Practices 1. Amend policies and procedures to allow for accurate tracking and accountability of complaints received at multiple agency locations to include, the Communications Center, Sectors, Courthouse, etc. Technology 2. Modify EIS system to facilitate initial input and tracking of recommendation above. 3. Develop a system to capture, track and store complaints received, not just those investigated by PSD. Recommendation number 2: Adjusting the agency's procedures to increase adherence with CALEA standards Policy/Procedure, Best Practices 1. Amend agency policies and procedures to track and close inquiries with established and defined dispositions (not sustained, sustained, exonerated, unfounded, or closed). Technology 2. Restructure current EIS database to differentiate between internal (OCSO employee) and external (non-OCSO employee) complaints received. Recommendation number 3: Expand the agency's transparency through the expanded publication of complaint data Closed Case Disposition Publication 1. Report detailed info-graphic data quarterly on the agency's website. 2. Increase info-graphic data displayed in the Annual Report. 3. Duplicate annual report data on OCSO PSD web page. Respectfully Submitted, Melinda Poole, Chair OCSO Citizens Advisory Committee Cc: Committee members Captain Joe Carter