Into The Open: Opportunities For More Timely And Transparent Investigations Of Fatal San Francisco Police Department*

R1

"Each of the three City agencies fundamental to OIS investigations — SFPD, DA's Office and OCC — should create a "OIS Investigations" web page specifically devoted to educating the public about that agency's role in the investigation of OIS incidents. Each agency's web page should be comprehensive and answer the following questions: Who is involved in the investigation and what are their roles and responsibilities; Why is the agency involved in OIS investigations; What is the investigation's purpose, what goals does the investigation attempt to achieve, what parts are disclosable and/or disclosed to the public, and what parts are not and/or cannot be disclosed and why; When does the investigation begin, what is the general time frame by which the public District Attorney's Office Response to the Civil Grand Jury September 6, 2016 Each agency should make its "OIS Investigations" web page available in English, Spanish, Chinese and Filipino (Tagalog). Each agency should provide a link from its home page to its "OIS Investigations" web page, so that it can be accessed easily. Each agency should add its "OIS Investigations" web page to its website as soon as possible, but no later than six months after the date this report is published." Response: This recommendation will be implemented no later than December 31, 2016. We are hopeful that by this date we will be able to post our new role and responsibilities based on the formation of the IIB.

R4

"The SFPD and the DA's Office should jointly draft a new MOU in which each commits to an agreed-upon process to: • Prioritize and expedite their investigations of OIS incidents within an established timeframe: Make a public announcement when each completes its OIS investigation, so that the District Attorney's Office Response to the Civil Grand Jury September 6, 2016 Response: This recommendation has been implemented in part, and will be fully implemented once the funding for the IIB is released and the positions are filled. The District Attorney has always given the investigation of OIS incidents top priority and has used the limited resources available to his office to ensure that each OIS investigation is conducted in a thorough and professional manner. However, the historic lack of funding specifically dedicated to the investigation of OIS incidents has resulted in a much longer than optimal length of time required to complete each investigation and issue the charging decision letters. We have already determined several ways to improve the speed and independence of OIS investigations. As noted in response to Recommendation 2.A, we requested funding to create the IBB and this request was funded in the current fiscal year's budget.

R5

B: "The DA should determine the resources necessary to reduce the length of time the DA's Office spends to complete its criminal investigations in OIS incidents and then make sufficient requests for those resources in the proposed budget for fiscal year 2017-2018, and thereafter." Response: This recommendation has been implemented. Our primary request in the 2016-17 budget was for staffing to improve the way we investigate and prosecute OIS cases. We recognized the long timeframe for completing our work as well as other problems with the process. This compelled us to request funding and push hard for the creation of a new unit in our office dedicated solely to this work because of its paramount importance. Unfortunately, the positions were placed on reserve so we have not been able to hire staff yet.

R14

A: "The DA's Office should make a public announcement each time it issues a charging decision letter so that the public is made aware that it has completed its OIS criminal investigation." Response: This recommendation has been implemented. We already prepare a letter summarizing each incident and post it to our website. Going forward, the District Attorney's Office will also issue a press statement each time a charging decision has been made relating to an OIS investigation. District Attorney's Office Response to the Civil Grand Jury September 6, 2016