1. Examining the Details

2.  Recognition Program Best Practices requires an annual analysis of Use of Force incidents, vehicle Pursuits, and Department Accidents and Injuries.  This analysis is designed to assist departments in making intelligent and informed decisions about the operations with greatest risk.

3.  An Analysis is a method emphasizing Continuous Improvement for an organization and allows the Chief to make informed decisions about high risk activities.

4.  Analysis Defined -  An Analysis is a detailed examination of a number of separate incidents or events over time, which when examined together may show patterns not readily seen at the time of the incident.

5.  The Analysis of Use of Force incidents is designed to identify methods to reduce the number of incidents where officers must use force.  Each use of force exposes an officer to a very dangerous situation.  Reducing the number of incidents or examining how officers can better apply necessary force can reduce the risk to officers.

6.  The Analysis of Vehicle Pursuits is intended to examine the causes and effects of the pursuits.  Every vehicle pursuit is inherently dangerous for officers and the public as well.  Reducing pursuits in some circumstances may reduce the overall danger to the public as well as officers.

7.  The Analysis of Department Accidents and Injuries can identify causes and allow training or equipment changes that may reduce both accidents or injuries.  Reducing accidents and injuries improves the chances officers will go home safely at the end of their tour.

8.  How do you do an Analysis???  Many different methods.  Some may use automated record keeping systems  Some may just keep copies of reports in a file folder  All require a detailed review of each incident.

9.  Basic steps to all Analyses:  Locate all the data, such as Use of Force forms or Pursuit forms, including offense narrative reports.  Ensure you have all the data. Your analysis can be criticized later if you fail to include all incidents in your analysis.

10.  We will discuss each type of required analysis individually:  Use of Force Analysis  Pursuit Analysis  Accident and Injury Analysis

11. Use of Force Analysis

12.  Identify total number of Use of Force incidents  Identify total number of police enforcement contacts (calls, arrests, citizen contacts, etc.)  Index these two values and compare to previous year.  Example: 20 Use of Force incidents vs. 10,000 citizen contacts = 0.2 % of contacts result in a use of force

13.  You may also want to develop the average number of Use of Force Incidents per officer.  Another helpful analysis is geographically mapping where Use of Force Incidents occur.  This tells the Chief if the overall Use of Force is up or down and the relative effectiveness of his policy, training, and assignment.

14.  Next, sort the incidents by the type of force used in a contact. (This should be the final type of force that was used that resolved the incident).  Record this information in your report. Record the number of each type of force used and compare it to last year’s figures.

15.  After you have recorded that basic data, you need to dig deeper.  Next, sort the incidents by the officer(s) involved. Review your data to determine if any officer appears to use force more often.  Careful review of this data must be done. An officer’s use of force may vary by the time of day they work, the area of town, and even their assignment.

16.  If an officer’s Use of Force is out of line with other officers and other explanations are not available (such as making more arrests, working a more active area, etc.) then the officer’s supervisor may need to be consulted about possible explanations.  In some cases, this may indicate a need for additional training, or other remedial actions.

17.  Supervisors typically review each use of force when it happens for compliance with department directives. But over the period of a year, they may not realize that one officer resorts to force more often.  Even if there is a rational explanation, officers who use force more often than their peers should be advised of this, as this can have a negative impression if the officer is ever sued for excessive force.

18.  Unusual patterns that are identified should be included in the report and the explanation given if one exists. If an explanation does not exist, the Chief will need to determine if any additional training or policy issues need to be developed.  Failure to include obvious patterns in the report can jeopardize the validity of the report and cause it to be discounted as incomplete.

19.  Next examine if any of the incidents occurred off-duty. If so, report the number and type of force used. The type of premises and nature of the incident should also be identified.  Reviewing off-duty incidents and reporting the type premises can assist in determining the staffing levels needed at some off-duty events or jobs.

20.  Now sort all the incidents by the first type of force used in each incident.  Select the lowest form of force reported by your agency. (Say soft empty-hand control)  From that stack sort the incidents by whether the use of force was successful or not at resolving the incident.  Now comes the detailed analysis. For the incidents where the use of force was successful, read the narratives and all the data from each Use of Force Form.

21.  By reading all these similar incidents together, you may begin to see similarities or patterns.  You are trying to determine if there are any similar circumstances or traits that led to the Use of Force being successful or not successful in resolving the incident.

22.  When reading these reports, you should pay particular attention to:  The type of incident  Whether alcohol was involved  How many suspects were present  How many officers were at the scene  The size of the suspect and officer  Could the officer have waited for additional backup  Was the officer or suspect injured  What would need to be done to handle this incident with a lesser level of force or no force at all??

23.  Make notes as they occur to you while reading these reports.  When you have finished reading the incidents that were successful, read the ones where that particular Use of Force was not successful, again making notes of any similarities.  Do this for each type of force used by the department.

24.  As the last part of your Use of Force Analysis, you should consider adding information about Complaints received by the department, both internal and external.  Detailed information about these complaints and results (without officer names) will give the report greater accuracy and credibility when being read by individuals outside the department.

25.  After reviewing all these incidents and reading the narratives of the reports, take your notes and attempt to describe what you learned.  These descriptive efforts will lead to possible solutions.

26.  Police know that the Use of Force is sometimes our only option to accomplish our mission.  Analysis provides information on which to base decisions regarding the department’s Use of Force.

27.  Review your observations and develop ideas of how to better respond to these incidents.  Develop conclusions or recommendations on:  Any needed policy or procedure issues  Any additional or beneficial training needed  Any additional equipment needed

28.  Policy Issues could include:  When to use or not to use a particular type of force  Type calls where you await backup before acting  Situations where a suspect should be searched and handcuffed while an investigation is conducted.  What type calls or locations should always require two officers, etc.

29.  Training issues could include:  Best method for deployment of a certain type of non- lethal weapon.  When to use or not use a particular type of force.  Refresher training needed on hands – on techniques.  What type of physical hold works best and how to implement.  Things not to do in confrontations

30.  Equipment issues could include:  The need for particular types of weapons, lethal and non-lethal  The types of holsters, and other devices needed to improve deployment.  Use of ballistic vests, traffic vests, or other safety items

31.  The Report:  Should summarize your finding including all the numbers. (NOT just a summary of numbers)  Should summarize your findings, the similarities along with descriptions of some significant events to support your findings.  Should describe potential solutions to some of the problems identified.  Describe possible solutions.

32. Pursuit Analysis

33.  The Annual Pursuit Report is done the same way, looking for ways to reduce the number and danger of Vehicle Pursuits.  Analysis will include such things as:  The reason for the pursuit  Any damage or injury  The results of the pursuit  How many were called off due to danger to the citizens, etc.

34.  The first step is to determine the total number of pursuits during the period and compare those to the total the year before.  Then, as in the prior analysis, you determine if any officer is involved in multiple pursuits. If so, some review of those pursuits may be necessary to determine if that particular officer is in need of additional training.

35.  Next you will need to sort through the pursuits and determine the different reasons for the pursuits and compare those to the previous year.  For each type of pursuit (such as traffic violation, DWI, known felony, etc) determine if they were successful and if any injuries or damages occurred during those pursuits. If so, provide detailed comments on the result of each.

36.  If you collect data on the speeds reached, the number of additional violations committed or other factors, summarize those statistics as well.

37.  Provide an overall total of injuries and damage, both to department, any suspects, and the public.  Try to determine any underlying reasons for the injuries and damage that can be mitigated in the future.  Next determine the number of pursuits terminated by officers and supervisors and the reasons why.

38.  Next, determine the results of the pursuits. (Whether the suspect was caught or not.)  If the suspect was caught, what charges were filed and what were the result of the charges.  Many times suspects are caught and filed on, only to result in cases being plea bargained. Does the result of these pursuits justify the danger to the officers and citizens??  If the suspects were not caught, was there any significant impact to the community?

39.  Each pursuit report is required to be reviewed by supervisors at the time and forward to the Chief or designee. When all the pursuits are viewed at the same time, patterns of behavior may emerge.  Finally, the Pursuit Analysis should conclude with a critical look at what might be done to reduce the number of pursuits, and the danger to both officers and citizens.

40. The Annual Accident and Injury Analysis

41.  The Annual Accident and Injury Analysis is also done in the same manner, looking for ways to reduce the number and severity of Accidents and personnel injuries.  Analysis here would include such things as:  Accident or Injury Cause  Actions which could have prevented the Accident or Injury  Training, policy changes or equipment that would reduce potential accidents or injuries.

42.  It is important to remember that this analysis includes an analysis of Vehicle Accidents and Personal Injuries resulting from Non-Vehicle related incidents.  Two separate analyses must be conducted.

43.  First Review all Vehicle Accidents involving department vehicles.  First report the total number of incidents compared to last year.  Next, determine if any one employee is responsible for multiple incidents. If so, further investigation may be in order along with remedial training or other action.

44.  Next sort the incidents of Vehicular Accidents by the cause of the accident, such as fail to maintain control, speeding, improper backing, etc. Compare these to the causes from the previous years.  Review any injuries that resulted from Vehicular Accidents and determine the causes of those accidents.

45.  Review and report the total damage value for both departmental and other vehicles where the department was responsible for the repair.  Finally, conduct a critical review of the driving performance and construct recommendations for :  Changes in Policy  Additional or Modified Training  Changes in Equipment  Supervision Issues

46.  Now Conduct an Analysis of all employee personal injuries that are not vehicle related.  Conduct the same type analysis as for Vehicular Accidents and the same reporting process with recommendations for:  Changes in Policy  Additional or Modified Training  Changes in Equipment  Supervision Issues

47.  Sample Reports are available to Guide you to an useful report.  Sample Report Forms are included in the Sample Policy Section of the Website Downloads and in the Sample Policy Manual.

48.  These Reports are critical in providing the Chief of Police with the information needed to make appropriate decisions regarding the department’s most dangerous operations.  A good analysis will result in good decisions and a safer department for the officers and those we serve.

49. Recognition Program – Best Practices Max Westbrook, Director 512-751-2213 rpdirector@tpca.org