Report 2021-105 Recommendation 36 Responses
Report 2021-105: Law Enforcement Departments Have Not Adequately Guarded Against Biased Conduct (Release Date: April 2022)
Recommendation #36 To: San Bernardino Police Department
To strengthen its relationships with its community and mitigate the effects of bias on its officers, San Bernardino Police should develop and begin implementing a documented strategy to do all of the following by April 2023:
- Collaborate with its communities to establish or leverage community advisory boards consisting of representatives of diverse groups. The strategy should specify how it will partner with the boards in the areas of recruitment, hiring, training, and community engagement, as well as how it will leverage the boards to obtain feedback on how it can better serve its community.
- Ensure that officers at all levels regularly participate in community engagement activities.
- Periodically survey its community to assess the effectiveness of its community engagement efforts and solicit feedback on how to improve its operations.
Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From September 2023
The Department has implemented this recommendation as described in the previous response.
- Completion Date: January 2023
California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Pending
San Bernardino Police has not provided documentation supporting that it has established a documented strategy for community engagement that addresses the elements of our recommendation.
- Auditee did not substantiate its claim of full implementation
6-Month Agency Response
The Department will work with community-based organizations such as the African American Advisor Board, Chaplains Committee, and Public Safety Commission to gain insight into recruitment, hiring, training, and community engagement. The strategy is documented in the Department's Recruitment and Hiring Plan. Additionally, the Department has also generated a call code identifier that officers are encouraged to use when participating in community engagement activities. Finally, District Officers attend over 300 events annually and will periodically solicit feedback from the community.
- Estimated Completion Date: January 2023
- Response Date: October 2022
California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Pending
60-Day Agency Response
The Department is researching best practices and assessing resources to develop a documented strategy and anticipates completing all recommendations before the next reporting period.
- Estimated Completion Date: October 2022
- Response Date: June 2022
California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Pending
All Recommendations in 2021-105
Agency responses received are posted verbatim.