Title
Civilian Police Auditor 2024 Annual Report
Recommended Action
Committee Recommendation:
Not referred to a committee
City Manager Recommendation:
Receive a briefing on the Police Auditor's 2024 Annual Report.
Report
Issue:
Whether to receive a briefing on the Police Auditor's 2024 Annual Report.
Staff Contact:
Stacey Ray, Assistant City Manager, 360.753.8046
Presenter(s):
Stacey Ray, Assistant City Manager
Deputy Chief Shelby Parker
Tara Parker, Police Auditor, Clarity Investigations and Consulting, PLLC
Background and Analysis:
The City Council (Council) maintains the services of a Civilian Police Auditor (Auditor) to provide an independent review and audit of the Olympia Police Department's uses of force and internal investigations regarding complaints against the Department and its employees. As has been the case since 2003, the Auditor is totally independent from the Olympia Police Department (OPD) and reports to the Council. The Chair of the City Council Community Livability and Public Safety Committee (CLPS) serves as the Council Liaison to the Auditor.
The Auditor provides two briefings annually to the Council on their work; a mid-year report and an annual report. The purpose of this agenda item is for the City's current Auditor, Tara Parker, Clarity Investigations & Consulting, to provide a briefing on her completed 2024 annual report (Attachment A). The annual report will include incidents and complaints that occurred January 1 to December 31, 2024.
Until a Council approved update in late 2024, the Auditor's duties and responsibilities have included examining uses of force, complaint investigations, and public demonstration responses to determine whether there is any evidence of unlawful bias or civil rights violations, and to ensure that they are aligned with best practices.
Subsequently, Ms. Parkers' report will be based on the scope of work in effect in 2024 and will include the number and types of use of force reports that hav...
Click here for full text