Aurora Police Department Directives Manual - Line and Staff Inspections PDF

AURORA POLICE DEPARTMENT DIRECTIVES MANUAL 02.04 Title: LINE AND STAFF INSPECTIONS Approved By: Daniel J. Oates, Interim Chief of Police Effective: 09/01/1998 Revised: 12/15/2022 Associated Policy: References: Review: Professional Standards Section 2.4 Page 1 of 6 LINE AND STAFF INSPECTIONS Frequent...

AURORA POLICE DEPARTMENT DIRECTIVES MANUAL 02.04 Title: LINE AND STAFF INSPECTIONS Approved By: Daniel J. Oates, Interim Chief of Police Effective: 09/01/1998 Revised: 12/15/2022 Associated Policy: References: Review: Professional Standards Section 2.4 Page 1 of 6 LINE AND STAFF INSPECTIONS Frequent inspection of facilities, equipment, personnel, and operational guidelines are necessary to ensure the proper, effective, and efficient operation of the police department. Definitions: Operational Readiness: Stored agency equipment is maintained and ready for immediate field deployment. This includes the equipment's care, cleaning, preventive maintenance, and repair. Line Inspection: Inspection conducted by personnel in control of the persons, facilities, procedures, or other elements being inspected. Line inspections may be carried out by any supervisor within the chain of command and are often conducted by supervisory personnel who may also be responsible for ensuring that any substandard conditions revealed in the inspection are corrected. Staff Inspection: Inspections conducted by personnel who do not have control of the persons, facilities, or procedures being inspected. The staff inspection is a quality control management tool designed to review the agency’s organizational units objectively. Staff inspections involve examining all departmental operations for efficiency, effectiveness, policy compliance, and adequacy of management controls. The results of staff inspections are usually reported to the agency’s chief executive officer or designee. 2.4.1 Inspection of Facilities Command officers will ensure that facilities under their chain of command will be inspected for security, damage, and cleanliness at a minimum once a year. Requests for repair or maintenance of facilities will be made through the appropriate command officer or the Command Support Specialist Executive, who will notify Aurora City Facilities. The designee will follow up on action taken to remedy the problem and ensure the problem has been corrected. An annual facility report will be sent to the Professional Standards Section (PSS) in January with updates on the facility. Directive Manual (Revised: 12/15/2022) 02.04 LINE AND STAFF INSPECTIONS Page 2 of 6 District station holding cells will be inspected annually by a command-level officer, and the inspection will be documented on the Holding Cell Inspection Form. Any noted deficiencies will be addressed immediately, and the resolution will be listed on the form. Once completed, the form will be forwarded to the appropriate district commander for review through the chain of command. After the review, the form will be forwarded to the Professional Standards Section. 2.4.2 Inspection of Stored Agency Property The equipment management function for each district, bureau, or section is vested in that commanding officer or designee. The commanding officer, or designee, will inspect all district, bureau, section, or unit equipment twice a year during the 1st quarter (January 1st – March 31st) and 3rd Quarter (July 1st – September 31st) to ensure it is maintained in a state of operational readiness. The commanding officer will maintain a current list of equipment assigned to his/her command and each item's operational readiness and inventory status. The inventory will include, at a minimum but is not limited to, the item description, serial number, location, and condition. All deficiencies noted will be forwarded to the respective command officer for review. All missing/stolen items will be reported to the commanding officer, a case report completed, and entered into CCIC/NCIC and updated in the current electronic inventory system. Items to be inventoried include but are not limited to:  Department-owned shotguns (e.g., less-lethal, breaching, etc.)  Ballistic Shields  Lasers and Radars  Preliminary Breath Test (PBT)  Automated External Defibrillator (AED)  Bicycles  Spare Radios  Tint Meters  Fingerprint Readers  Cameras Directive Manual (Revised: 12/15/2022) 02.04 LINE AND STAFF INSPECTIONS Page 3 of 6 The semi-annual inventory reports will be electronically provided to the Professional Standards Section. The Professional Standards Section will periodically report the inspection results to the Professional Standards and Training Division Chief. 2.4.3 Personnel Inspection and Issued Specialized Equipment First-line supervisors will informally observe the condition of their subordinates' uniforms and/or appearance and equipment daily. Formal line inspections of personnel and assigned equipment will be conducted annually during each year’s 2nd quarter (April 1st – June 30th) and completed by the end of the 4th quarter (October 1st – December 31st) utilizing the current electronic reporting system. Deficiencies noted will be forwarded to the respective command officer for review. The commanding officer with oversight of a division, district, bureau, or section will ensure that all emergency critical specialty equipment assigned to his/her members within their command is inspected and inventoried for operational readiness and accountability. This will occur semi-annually and needs to be completed during and by the end of the 2nd quarter (April 1st – June 30th) and during and by the end of the 4th quarter (October 1st – December 31st). The commanding officer will maintain a current list of emergency critical specialty equipment assigned to his/her command, utilizing the current inventory management system and each item's operational readiness and inventory status. The inventory will include, at a minimum but is not limited to, the item description, serial number, member assigned, and condition. The commanding officer will ensure that spot checks are performed to ensure the inventories are accurate. If a high-value or high-liability items, such as but not limited to rifles, shotguns, or lesslethal shotguns, is discovered missing, the appropriate chain of command will be notified as soon as practical. The semi-annual inspections/inventories will be electronically provided to the Professional Standards Section. The Professional Standards Section will periodically report the results of the inspections to the Professional Accountability Division Chief. Command officers will ensure that an appropriate protocol for the governance of inspections is outlined in their respective standard operating procedures. Equipment Items for Personnel Inspection The following items will be included during the annual inspection if applicable:  Radios  Body-Worn Cameras  Tasers Directive Manual (Revised: 12/15/2022) 02.04 LINE AND STAFF INSPECTIONS 2.4.4  Taser Cartridges  Handguns  Less Lethal Shotguns  Shotguns  Rifles  Firearm Optics  40mm Less Lethal Launchers  Any Foggers, Gas, and OC/CS munitions  Noise Flash Diversionary Devices (e.g., flashbangs)  Protective Helmets  Body Armor Plates Page 4 of 6 Other Areas The Chief of Police, Deputy Chief, Division Chiefs, or other appropriate command officers may designate other areas to be inspected or increase the frequency of inspection at their discretion. 2.4.5 Corrective Measures Supervisors are expected to act immediately to correct minor problems that become evident during inspections. If a problem is of such a nature to require repair or replacement of equipment, a memo will be directed to the appropriate command officer stating the nature and cause, if known, of the problem and the corrective action necessary. 2.4.6 Staff Inspections Staff Inspections are conducted to determine:  That agency personnel are performing functions in accordance with directives, standard operating procedures, administrative policy memorandums, and personnel policy and procedure guidelines.  How agency resources are utilized. Directive Manual (Revised: 12/15/2022) 02.04 LINE AND STAFF INSPECTIONS Page 5 of 6  The appearance of personnel and the condition of equipment and facilities.  Uniformity of operations within the agency.  The existence of need(s) within the department.  The discharge of command and supervisory duties and responsibilities.  Areas where the agency or its members are vulnerable and/or at risk. Staff Inspection reports will be provided to appropriate command officers to ensure timely notification of the inspection's irregularities, deficiencies, and exemplary performances. 2.4.7 Authority to Conduct Staff Inspections Only the Chief of Police or designee will assign staff inspections for cause. The Professional Standards Section command officer or designee will be responsible for scheduling and conducting staff inspections. When conducting staff inspections, the Professional Standards Section commanding officer or designee will act directly under the command and authority of the Chief of Police. The commanding officer and staff of the component being inspected must fully cooperate with the Professional Standards Section command officer or designee with the inspection process. As staff inspections may last up to several weeks, command officers should staff and plan accordingly. If deficiencies are noted that cannot be immediately corrected, the Professional Standards Section command officer may schedule a follow-up inspection to evaluate the progress in correcting noted deficiencies or irregularities. The time frame for this follow-up inspection will be detailed in the Staff Inspection Report. 2.4.8 Staff Inspection Process a. Staff Inspection Reports will be produced within the software system or equivalent database. All final reports will be archived in the database. Requests for access to previous reports must be made to the Professional Standards Section command officer or designee. b. The Professional Standards Section command officer or designee will determine the sequence of components to be inspected. The Chief of Police may revise the sequence as necessary. c. The Professional Standards Section command officer or designee will notify the affected command officer of pending inspection and request production of documentation before the commencement of the inspection. Directive Manual (Revised: 12/15/2022) 02.04 LINE AND STAFF INSPECTIONS Page 6 of 6 d. A pre-inspection conference between the Professional Standards Section command officer or designee and the commanding officer of the component to be inspected may be held before the commencement of the inspection. The conference will address any needs or requests from the commanding officer, progress towards production of requested documentation, and the inspection plan to ensure the inspection is minimally intrusive to the operations of the component. The Staff Inspection may include, but is not limited to: a. A review of all applicable directives and/or standard operating procedures. b. Adherence to appropriate CALEA standards. c. A physical inspection of facilities and equipment, recordkeeping, and documentation. d. Evaluation of programs and projects and interviews with department members within the component. Any noted deficiencies in the Staff Inspection Report will be addressed by the commanding officer in his/her respective tracking notes in the appropriate software system or equivalent database, where the Staff Inspection Report will be archived. e. At the request of the commanding officer of the inspected component, a postinspection meeting may occur between the Professional Standards Section command officer or designee and the commanding officer. f. Following an inspection or follow-up inspection, a written report of observations and recommendations will be completed by the Professional Standards Section command officer or designee and forwarded to the appropriate Division Chief through the chain of command. The Chief of Police will be informed of any serious performance or process deficiencies discovered during the staff inspection. A copy of the report will be forwarded to the commanding officer of the inspected component. g. Upon receipt of a Staff Inspections Report, the Division Chief or designee may schedule a meeting to discuss the inspection findings. The Division Chief or designee, Professional Standards Section command officer or designee, and the commanding officer(s) of the inspected component should attend the meeting. If necessary, a course of corrective action and the timetable for completion and follow-up inspection will be determined at this meeting to remedy noted deficiencies.