Report 2021-105 Recommendation 58 Responses

Report 2021-105: Law Enforcement Departments Have Not Adequately Guarded Against Biased Conduct (Release Date: April 2022)

Recommendation #58 To: Stockton Police Department

To strengthen its relationships with its community and mitigate the effects of bias on its officers, Stockton Police should develop and begin implementing a documented
strategy to do all of the following by April 2023:
- Collaborate with its communities to establish or leverage community advisory boards consisting of representatives of diverse groups. The strategy should specify how it will partner with the boards in the areas of recruitment, hiring, training, and community engagement, as well as how it will leverage the boards to obtain feedback on how it can better serve its community.
- Ensure that officers at all levels regularly participate in community engagement activities.
- Periodically survey its community to assess the effectiveness of its community engagement efforts and solicit feedback on how to improve its operations.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2023

1). The Department has and will continue to leverage meetings with the Chief's Community Advisory Board and the City Manager's Review Board to discuss the Department's training, recruitment, and community engagement at quarterly meetings.

2). Officers at all ranks have been active in community engagement and recruiting efforts. In October 2022, the Office of the Chief of Police began its own engagement campaigns that included neighborhood walks, school campus walks, and attending various community events. In this campaign, members from all levels participate in the activities.

3). The Department does not intend to implement a periodic survey at this time.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Pending

Stockton did not provide documentation substantiating its implementation of this recommendation. Additionally, for this recommendation to be fully implemented Stockton will need to conduct a periodic survey to collect information on the effectiveness of its community engagement efforts and to solicit areas for improvement.

All Recommendations in 2021-105

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.