police officer by a car

Recommendations

Chapter 6

Citizen Stop and Search Practices

Finding 34

Pedestrian stops by MPD lack proper oversight and accountability.

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Recommendation 34.1

MPD should immediately modify its policy on field interviews to require that officers notify MPD dispatch that the officer has engaged in a field stop and notify dispatch when that stop has completed.

Recommendation 34.2

MPD should develop a training bulletin for all MPD officers reinforcing the requirements for a field interview, including establishing reasonable suspicion for the stop, which should be reinforced through roll call training conducted by supervisors.

Recommendation 34.3

MPD officers should be required to clearly define the reasonable suspicion of the stop within the Field Interview card.

Recommendation 34.4

MPD supervisory personnel should be held accountable for ensuring timely, accurate submission of Field Interview cards.

Recommendation 34.5

Supervisors should be provided training on identifying trends and patterns that give rise to potentially biased practices regarding vehicle and pedestrian stops and vehicle searches.

Recommendation 34.6

MPD should conduct an audit of its field interviews to review the timely and accurate completion of Field Interview cards, proper explanation for the reasonable suspicion giving rise to the stop, and as a cross-reference against the CAD data for the pedestrian stop.

Recommendation 34.4

MPD supervisory personnel should be held accountable for ensuring timely, accurate submission of Field Interview cards.

Current:

SOP 085.20(C) clearly articulates the requirements for submitting field interview cards. All field interview cards are required to be submitted to a supervisor prior to the end of the member’s tour of duty and all cards are required to be reviewed by a supervisor prior to being entered into the Tiburon FI module. The policy requires the Field Interview card to be entered within 72 hours.

The department audited this information at a recent CompStat meeting on June 28, 2017, to ensure that field interview cards are being properly entered into the Tiburon FI module. The audit consisted of identifying the number of field interviews in CAD and cross-comparing the number to the number of field interviews entered into Tiburon. This information will be regularly presented at CompStat to ensure field interviews are properly entered into the Tiburon FI module in accordance with department policy. In addition, MPD supervisors are also required to review and approve all Arrest Detention Report (form PA-45) and/or Probable Cause Statement and Determination (form CR-215) reports completed by members as these reports require reasonable suspicion and probable cause for an arrest during a field interview. Field Interview cards are not solely used to document a Terry stop. They serve a dual purpose as a way to document contacts with witnesses, victims, and other interested parties during an investigation. There will not always be a reasonable suspicion or probable cause statement needed on a Field Interview card.

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