The Denver Police Department is looking at taking a positive approach in addressing lower level disciplinary issues among its officers, turning first to training instead of punishment.
The model DPD may adopt, known as Education-Based Discipline or EDP, is based on correcting behavior by teaching appropriate skills and/or procedures to an officer after they commit a violation.
Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas cited the faster processing time for handling such cases as the reason for moving to an EDP approach.
“I think if you have an interaction with an officer that didn't go well and there was a significant violation there, you also shouldn't be waiting an extensive period of time for resolution, nor should the discipline to an officer for a transgression take a long time to manifest,” Thomas said.
Under the EBD model, officers would go through an individualized plan that involves decision-making courses, training on policies and procedures, hands-on education relevant to the infraction, and peer presentations and discussions tailored to the specific violation.
The proposed disciplinary system is modeled after a similar program implemented by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in 2009. DPD said that since then, 65 local, state, and federal agencies in the country have implemented portions of LASD’s program.
The traditional model DPD is moving away from involves oral and written reprimands, “fined time”, and suspensions. Fined time is when an officer is docked accrued time off for an infraction but doesn’t lose pay or a day worked. According to DPD, 93 percent of its current discipline is punitive or negative. The remaining seven percent involves mediation, an option that must be approved by the Office of the Independent Monitor and DPD.
Thomas said 85 percent of DPD’s caseload is low-level disciplinary cases: minor infractions or patterns that do not severely compromise the department values.
“The way that these cases conclude is an oral counseling or somebody getting a written note that's added to their personnel file that just says that they violated a certain policy (and) that is really the end of it,” Thomas said. “There's no educating officers on what the right course of action to take would be. There's no helping officers understand what the community expectation is, what the department expectation is.”
DPD said the EBD model reduces management-employee conflict, officer embitterment and case load for the Conduct Review Office. The department also said it assists in retention and recruitment and enhances communication, character, competence and trust.
However, the two independent bodies tasked with overseeing discipline in the police department are raising concerns about the potential change.
How will it work?
DPD gave the example of a resident who reports vandalism to their vehicle and requests a police report. The responding officer advises them to contact their insurance instead. Later, the resident complains that their claim was denied due to the missing report. Upon review, supervisors find the officer failed to take the report.
Instead of issuing traditional discipline, the department might require the officer to complete a 10-hour decision-making class and four hours of more specific training, such as a review of the Operations Manual, a report writing class, or a presentation to their peers on the importance of completing thorough and accurate reports.
For low level infractions, officers will be able to choose whether to go through EBD or receive a traditional punishment. More serious violations are not eligible for EBD. Those included the following:
- Any category F specification (violation of law, rule, or policy that foreseeably causes death or serious injury, demonstrates willful disregard for department value, or reflects a serious lack of integrity, ethics, or character affecting an officer’s fitness for duty)
- Conduct Prohibited by Law (those include felonies and decertifying misdemeanors)
- Sexual Misconduct
- Assault on a Fellow Officer
- Altering Information or Destroying Official Records
- Under the Influence of Alcohol on Duty
- Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Specifications, unless approved by the EEO Coordinator, Chief of Police, and Executive Director of Safety (EDOS)
- Low level offense that are identified as pattern of conduct
- Unlawful Use of Force
Thomas also noted that if an officer commits the same infraction again, after going through the EBD process, they will be offered mediation if the complaint came from a community member. But the department would also revert back to traditional punishments.
“If six months, a year later they commit the same infraction, we're not going to consider retraining them because they've already established that wasn't effective. And so we would go to the traditional discipline model,” Thomas said. “We're not going to allow people to continue to go through education-based discipline for the same infraction over and over again when it seems clear that they've not benefited from that education.”
The Office of the Independent Monitor and Citizen Oversight Board oppose the EBD model
Even though it would be involved, the Officer of Independent Monitor opposes adopting the new approach. In a statement, the OIM said there’s no evidence that the EBD model is the best practice when officers break the rules.
“While additional training that targets demonstrated deficiencies is welcome, such training can be provided in addition to the discipline penalties required by the current discipline process,” the OIM said in a statement. “Further, the OIM is aware of no best practice research that suggests the introduction of an education-based discipline program improves officer accountability or outcomes for community members.”
The Citizen Oversight Board raised its own concerns with the new process. The COB said the model was developed without engagement from the community or the Office of the Independent Monitor. Board chair Julia Richman also said the EBD model addresses a symptom rather than the root causes of problems within the discipline system.
“I think all participants in police oversight and conduct management agree that the process that folks go through discipline is too long and too complicated,” said Julia Richman, chair of the COB. “It could very much be the case that education is an outcome of the discipline process, but what they have done here instead is say that there's a whole separate process to get to education.”
Richiman described the process of adopting EBD as a rush job. She said COB was surprised when the proposal was presented at the end of the last year and told that it would be implemented at the beginning of this one.
And she worried that the change leaves officers with less of an incentive to follow the rules.
“You're required to do X amount of training as an officer a year, and your discipline-related training could count towards that,” Richman said.
Chief Thomas said the OIM will still have input in the discipline process, but DPD will let them know after the information is gathered whether the department is pursuing an option like mediation.
“We may determine that a case shouldn't even be investigated because we feel like we have sufficient facts to conclude that the allegation didn't occur, or what did occur either is not a policy violation or there's a judicial remedy and not a disciplinary remedy,” Thomas said.
The department had planned to implement EBD at the beginning of the year. But the process has since slowed down in order to take more feedback from the OIM, COB and the community. There is no timetable as to when the final policy will be presented and implemented.
