City of OKC

Recommendation No. 16:

OKCPD should increase transparency for Professional Standards investigations.

OKCPD should increase transparency for Professional Standards investigations by providing a publicly-facing workflow and FAQ explaining the Internal Affairs process, timelines, communications, and should make the Professional Standards Annual Report publicly available.

Project Status: 40% Implemented

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Project Details from Consultant Report

In response to our document requests, OKCPD provided Professional Standards Annual Reports from 2018 and 2019 that detailed the process and the outcomes for the year’s investigations, but those reports were never made public. In the OKCPD 2020 Annual Report, the department took the step of providing such information publicly. OKCPD should go further to clarify exactly what the investigative processes are and what a member of the public should expect when they file a complaint, including what investigation will occur, what the possible outcomes could be, and when they will hear back from the department. The presentation of information could be simply text, or it could be more comprehensively developed for ease of reading, such as this infographic developed by the Baltimore Police Department.

Additionally, while the information in the 2020 Annual Report is good, other departments provide much greater information relating to internal investigations in the interest of full transparency.