Fire and Police Commission

DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE
June 23, 2008

NEW FPC CITIZEN COMPLAINT PILOT PROGRAM

A primary function of the Milwaukee FPC is to provide a viable citizen complaint process to ensure that fire and police department personnel treat community members with courtesy and respect according to the rules and regulations of the respective department. The citizen complaint process has, in recent years, been a failure to the community at large and individual complainants in particular. Since my appointment as Executive Director of the FPC, we have placed a renewed emphasis on revamping the citizen complaint process. The complaint system has been under review in order to identify best practices and build a new and independent intake investigation process. This new process has four goals:

1. Increase transparency and community confidence in the citizen complaint process.
2. Establish an independent system for receiving, investigating, and disciplining department members for acts of misconduct.
3. Provide a means to analyze complaints for the purpose of identifying trends or patterns within the fire or police departments.
4. Monitor and audit complaints and discipline investigations conducted by the fire and police departments to ensure a fair and thorough process.

We have recently embarked upon a pilot program to revamp the citizen complaint process. The pilot program recognizes the need for revised complaint procedures and is an effort to fulfill the goals of the citizen complaint process. Participants in the program will be surveyed to determine satisfaction levels with the process. The pilot program will be evaluated and any necessary procedural changes or modifications to existing rules will be identified and implemented. The pilot program is described in detail in the FPC Citizen Complaint Intake Investigation Case Handling Guidelines.

The citizen complaint pilot program is part of many exciting changes taking place within the FPC. It is anticipated that these changes will be part of an on-going process of review, evaluation, and modification to identify and implement the procedures necessary to fulfill the unique and varied functions of the FPC. Some of the numerous changes currently occurring within the FPC include:

• website redesign to make our process more user friendly
• complete redesign of all forms, letters, and brochures in multiple languages
• new staff positions to independently investigate complaints
• new staff positions to conduct research and analysis of the policies and procedures of the fire and police departments
• three new FPC citizen board commissioners, bringing the total to seven, together with a training curriculum once they are appointed
• new disciplinary hearing procedures to include utilization of hearing examiners
• a conciliation program for citizen complaints conducted by trained mediators
• revised focus on reviewing, analyzing, and conducting policy and procedure review of the fire and police departments
• new emphasis on recruiting and hiring procedures, including a comprehensive fire and police department recruiting and hiring plan
• development of a monitoring/auditing/reporting program of all fire and police department internal investigations
• a process for community members to commend the actions of individual fire and police department members
• development of a comprehensive FPC community relations plan
• development of a network of community advocates to help persons involved in the complaint process

This is a time of great change within the agency. I ask members of the community to remain patient and optimistic while these programs are designed and implemented. With your support we can bring about positive changes that will have a significant impact on our public safety departments and our community for many years to come. We are confident that these changes will enable the FPC to become an agency that is worthy of community trust. We will strive toward our goal of becoming an agency that is transparent and effective in performing its important responsibilities. I look forward to overcoming the challenges ahead, and invite your participation in the process.

Michael G. Tobin, Executive Director