Palo Alto's independent police auditor is pushing the Police Department to better document its process for teaching officers about use of force, particularly when it comes to incidents that involve officers pointing firearms.

The tracking of cases in which Palo Alto officers point firearms is a new responsibility for OIR Group, which has been reviewing department activities for more than a decade and has seen its scope increase in recent years to capture a greater breadth of incidents. On Monday, June 12, in their presentation to the City Council, the police auditors suggested that while the Palo Alto officers have shown good judgment when it comes to firearms, the department could do a better job in using incidents that involve firearms as teaching opportunities.

The auditors' presentation focused on its most recent audit, which captured the last six months of 2022 and included three instances in which an officer pointed a firearm. One involved an observed auto burglary suspect who drove away from officers and eventually crashed into a police car. Another featured a suspect in a road rage incident, while a third involved a SWAT team operation.

In all three cases, the auditors found that the tactic was appropriate and that the department had done an adequate job in reviewing it. Stephen Connolly, an auditor with OIR Group, said the agency's conduct reflects the general trend in law enforcement of agencies tracking use of firearms, even when they aren't fired.

"Pointing a firearm is not a new concept, but the tracking of it and accountability and internal review is a new concept," Connolly said. "It's definitely something gaining traction throughout the state and throughout the country as we're starting to realize those are significant events for people and police should be responsible and accountable for incidents in which you have this level of show of force."

The audit, which was released earlier this month, found that while all incidents of pointed firearms appeared to be justified, the department could have done a better job in documenting the incidents and providing the information to the auditors. It cited time lags in providing information about the incidents, noting that one of them was "belatedly discovered months after its actual occurrence."

"We have no reason to believe that these minor lapses in process are anything other than the ‘growing pains' of new procedures and are confident they have been rectified for the future," the audit stated.

To date, the department has been forwarding to the auditor's its "bottom line" conclusion about these incidents but did not provide any formal, standalone assessment of the tactic in a supervisory memo – as is typically the case with other types of use-of-force reviews.

"This raises the question as to what level of formality and thoroughness makes the most sense for the review of a tactic that is usually of very brief duration, has limited impact, and occurs in the context of a larger police response that is itself subject to standard review," the audit stated. "As always, there is a tension between the optimally robust and the realistically attainable. Department leadership has expressed to us its hesitations about over-committing supervisor time and energy in this specific context."

The City Council was generally pleased with the latest audit, which also looked at complaints filed against the department during the six-month period. The biggest concern swirled around an incident in which officers engaged in a dispute with a supervisor, prompting the department to hire an independent investigator. Over the course of the investigation, it emerged that the officers used personal cell phones to share draft police reports and other information about the case, in violation of department policy. The officers had also repeatedly refused to hand over these documents to the investigator, the auditors noted.

"That is information that in our view would have been potentially critical to the full assessment of the allegations, and the investigator couldn't get access to it or didn't get access to it," auditor Michael Gennaco said Monday.

Police Chief Andrew Binder said he was "disappointed" in the investigator's decision not to require the officers to turn in that communication. Vice Mayor Greer Stone agreed and said he found that incident "very concerning."

"I hope that we don't just let that one die. Now that we have this IPA report and discussion tonight, I hope there are plans to continue to pursue that."

Much of the discussion Monday focused on the auditors' recent review of the department's recruiting policies, a subject of another recent audit. Gennaco emphasized the challenges of recruiting a diverse workforce in a very competitive atmosphere. The auditor recommended soliciting more community input about potential applicants and exploring new strategies for increasing female representation in the department. The department currently has about five female officers.

Council member Vicki Veenker acknowledged the challenge and suggested a greater focus on retaining the existing workforce by providing employees more flexibility and greater opportunities for advancement. This includes being sensitive to individuals' personal circumstances and granting them maternity or paternity leaves.

She cited the example of her husband, a former probation officer at Santa Clara County who quit when their daughter was 1-year-old because his request to go part-time was denied. (The county has since changed its policy, she noted.)

"It's a parenting issue, and bringing some degree of gender neutrality to it could also be helpful," Veenker said.