GO - 58001 - - Use - of - Force - Review - Board - UOFRB

SACRAMENTO POLICE DEPARTMENT GENERAL ORDERS GO 580.01 Page 1 of 2 USE OF FORCE REVIEW BOARD GO 580.01 9-30-20 PURPOSE This policy establishes the process for the Sacramento Police Department to review officer or authorized non - sworn uniformed department personnel use of force incidents. The process shall include the establishment and utilization of an administrative Use of Force Review Board, hereafter known as the UOFRB, which will provide for department -wide consistency and information sharing in the review of use of force incidents . The UOFRB review process shall be conducted for all level 1 or level 2 use of force incidents. However, the UOFRB shall not review any use of force incidents resulting in death or involving the discharge of firearms. Those incidents shall be investigated and reviewed separately as outlined in GO 580.02 Use of Force policy. POLICY The Sacramento Police Department shall objectively evaluate officer or authorized non -sworn uniformed department personnel use of force incidents to ensure that force is used lawfully, appropriately and is consistent with training and policy. REVIEW BOARD The UOFRB will convene monthly to review use of force incidents presented by respective division and area commands. The captain or designee responsible for the review shall present the use of force incident details to the UOFRB at the monthly meeting. Incidents to be reviewed shall have completed the initial reporting, tracking software entry and review up to the division level, prior to being presented to the UOFRB. Prior to the presentation, the captain or designee responsible for the review shall conduct a thorough review of the incident and shall ensure that any pertinent audio, video, reports or other information is readily available for review. The presenting c aptain or designee may bring a recommendation. However, the board is not bound by that recommendation. COMPOSITION OF THE BOARD The chairperson of the UOFRB shall be the Deputy Chief of Operations. For UOF reviews of personnel assigned outside the Office of Operations, the respective Deputy Chief in that officer’s chain of command may sit in as the chairperson for that review. Sitting members of the board shall include the following personnel , with a quorum being 5 members present: • Captain of each patrol district. • Captain of Metro Operations. • Captain of the Training, Research and Development Division. • Captain of the Professional Standa rds Unit (PSU) . • Captain of the Office of Investigations. SACRAMENTO POLICE DEPARTMENT GENERAL ORDERS GO 580.01 Page 2 of 2 RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE BOARD The UOFRB is empowered to conduct an administrative review and inquiry into the circumstances of a use of force incident. The UOFRB, after having reviewed the information presented by the captain or designee, will make a determination as to whether or not any use of force within the incident was within policy. If necessary, the UOFRB may request further investigation, request additional information, and request additional reviews by subject matter experts or other persons to present further information prior to making any finding. The board may discuss and recommend retraining , watch level action, or refer to Internal Affairs for formal investigation if needed. Any necessary follow up sh all be initiated by the relevant captain or designee in consultation with the respective Deputy Chief. The review conducted shall be based upon those facts which were reasonably perceived or known by the officer or authorized non -sworn uniformed department p ersonnel at the time of the incident, applying any legal requirements, department policies, procedures and approved training to those facts. Facts later discovered but unknown to the officer or authorized non -sworn uniformed department personnel at the time shall neither justify nor call into question an officer’s or authorized non -sworn uniformed department personnel’s decision regarding the use of force. Any recommended findings as to whether or not a use of force incident is within policy require a consensus of the board. The board may also recommend that the Training, Research and Development Division conduct training reviews to consider whether training or policy should be developed or revised as appropriate. The findings of the UOFRB for each reviewed incident shall be entered into the corresponding software tracking entry software by the captain or designee responsible for presenting the incident and forwar ding it directly to PSU. Any recommended corrective action shall be handled and documented a t the Watch, through the respective officer’s or authorized non -sworn uniformed department personnel’s chain of command , or through the Training Division as appropriate, and shall not be documented in a software tracking entry. The PSU Captain or designee will prepare a summary memorandum for the record after each meeting indicating the findings and recommendations from each incident reviewed to ensure accuracy with the final software tracking entry. The memo will record the attendance at the meeting , as well as the findings and recommendations of the UOFRB from each review. A copy of the memorandum shall be stored in PSU for the duration of the document retention schedule per City guidelines.