City of OKC

Recommendation No. 1:

OKCPD should elevate de-escalation to policy level to highlight it as a core department value.

OKCPD should elevate de-escalation to the policy level in the OKC Operations Manual to prioritize de-escalation as a core value and principle.

Project Status: 80% Implemented

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Project Details from Consultant Report

The OKC Operations Manual is divided into Policies, Procedures, and Rules. Policies consist of “principles and values, which guide the performance of a Department activity. Policy is not a statement of what must be done in a particular situation; rather, it is a statement of guiding principles, which should be followed in activities, which are directed toward the attainment of Department objectives.”

A Procedure, “is a preferred and expected method of performing an operation or a manner of proceeding on a course of action. It differs from policy in that it directs action in a particular situation to perform a specific task within the guidelines of policy. Both policies and procedures are objective oriented; however, policy establishes limits of action while procedure directs response within those limits.” Finally, a Rule, “is a specific requirement or prohibition, which is stated to prevent deviations from policy or procedure.”

This form of guidance to officers is needlessly complex and contributes to the reason for the Department’s six-hundred-and twenty-six-page Operations Manual. In practice, the distinctions between Policies, Procedures, and Rules appear muddy, with granular issues such as uniforms and restrictions on Secondary Employment placed at the Policy level. In contrast, de-escalation appears as a Procedure.

Although 21CP recommends globally that the Operations Manual be collapsed into clear policies that incorporate the value, purpose, and procedures on how to follow any given policy, at the very least de-escalation should be included as a core principle and value, which it is not. While functionally this may not matter as officers are accountable to all aspects of the Operations Manual, clearly designating de-escalation as the centerpiece of police engagements at the highest tier of standards under the Policy Manual sends a strong departmental signal, both internally and externally.