- I will immediately begin to update complete background checks on all command personnel above the rank of captain. These checks will cover financial records, credit history, secondary employment and interviews with neighbors and references.
- As you know, I have proposed an enhanced recruitment process which will, if approved, require two years of college by the fall of 1999 and a four-year degree by the fall of 2002. In conjunction with these enhancements, I also plan to administer polygraph examinations to every potential new hire.
- Finally, I have directed Executive Assistant Chief Gainer to convene a working committee whose goal is to re-invent the Department's entire policies, procedures and systems in the area of discipline. This committee will include representatives from the rank-and-file, supervisory officials, command members, unions and the community. Its charge is straightforward: to develop a fair and effective system for receiving, investigating and resolving complaints against MPDC members in accordance with the vision I articulated here today. I expect the bulk of the committee's work to be completed in approximately 90 days.
The work of this committee will focus on many critical issues: the integrity of complaint initiation; the investigative process, including the timeliness of investigations; internal disciplinary procedures; referrals for criminal action; rights of the accused; notification of complainants; and the appeals process. I am also directing the committee to establish a reporting procedure in which quarterly activity reports are submitted to the Chief Management Officer, the City Council and the Congressional oversight committees. These reports will document the Department's actions while protecting the confidentiality of individuals as provided by the Constitution and bargaining agreements.
Assistant Chief Gainer and his committee are also instructed to develop plans for the structure, composition and personnel assignments of the Office of Professional Responsibility, including the need for a Confidential and Corrupt Practices section. He will advise me on the appropriateness of relocating internal affairs from 300 Indiana Avenue in order to enhance undercover operations and ensure the confidentiality of interviews.
Finally, I am asking this committee to look at the issue of preventing misconduct through early identification and intervention with employees who are experiencing problems. We all need to remember that police work is done in an extremely dangerous and stressful environment, and it is these dangers and stresses that often contribute to misconduct. I am asking the committee for recommendations on a Personnel Concerns program that will train supervisors to identify members who are exhibiting unusual or uncharacteristic behavior, and then provide those members with counseling and other assistance. We owe it to our employees to help them deal with personal problems on the front end, so that we can avoid having to punish misconduct on the back end.
Best practices in the areas of complaint and disciplinary processes and employee assistance exist across the country. We will work with members of our Department—in conjunction with the US Attorney, the Corporation Counsel, the FOP, elected officials and the community—to research these best practices and apply them to our Department. I am confident that we can create a fair, credible and effective process—one that employs progressive discipline, tolerates and corrects inadvertent errors, and treats minor infractions reasonably. At the same time, we will conscientiously and impartially enforce the law, and move forcefully for more severe penalties—up to and including separation and criminal sanctions—when that is warranted.
I know you will be analyzing a lot of statistics today, so I want to offer a caveat about what the numbers may look like in the future. Establishing the systems and controls that I outlined today may have the effect of actually increasing the number of complaints investigated in the short-term. As people gain more confidence in our complaint and disciplinary system, and as the process become more accessible and efficient, we very well may see the numbers rise. My concern is not so much with the short-term fluctuations in statistics. Rather, my commitment is to provide the people of this city, and the members of my department, with an honest, ethical police force that we can be proud of and that can work effectively to reduce crime.
I want to close today with a message to the women and men of the Metropolitan Police Department. To that vast, vast majority of members I spoke of, whose conduct is above reproach, I say, "thank you." Your honesty and integrity seldom get recognition publicly, but they are deeply appreciated by me and by the community. And to those few who would tarnish our badge and betray our oath, I say, "do so at your peril."
Thank you.
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