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Police Operations and Data Analysis Report, Morgan Hill, California
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approve or revise the discipline. The concerned employee is then provided an opportunity to
review the case and the intended discipline. The employee can respond to the Chief orally or in
writing before implementation to attempt mitigation of the allegations and/or intended discipline.
Administrative investigation and public complaint data are valuable as a risk management tool to
identify training needs, performance deficiencies, or patterns of misconduct. As noted, MHPD
retains files of past formal complaint and administrative investigations for management reference
in the Chief’s office for the required retention periods. MHPD staff compiles formal complaint and
investigation data in a manual database. Management records provided to CPSM indicate 14
administrative investigations were conducted over the last three years involving 16 employees.
Findings as a result of the investigations included eight sustained, three not sustained, three
exonerated, and two unfounded. Where appropriate, employees were disciplined according to
department policy.
The fact that the current tracking software is underutilized needs to be resolved, especially with
MHPD’s focus on growth. Management reports regarding personnel complaints are produced by
administrative staff upon request, but not on any scheduled basis. MHPD’s current staff size and
investigation/complaint totals may be manageable now, but implementing a functional tracking
system with an early warning component must be considered with the anticipated growth.
CPSM recommends the establishment a Professional Standards Unit under the direction of a
sergeant to manage department-wide essential support services, such as internal affairs, in order to
maintain high standards of ethics and professionalism. See the Professional Standards section of
this report for further discussion of this issue.
Recommendations:
Department policy should be reviewed to ensure that policy and practice are in line.
A comprehensive, reliable, and user-friendly administrative investigation and public
complaint tracking system should be implemented to provide a valuable risk management
tool.
The practice of the fact finder determining administrative investigation case findings should
be examined and revised to balance investigative objectivity and staff development benefits.
MHPD policy in this area should be reviewed to ensure policy and practice is in line with the
desired investigative process.
Administrative investigation and personnel complaint management reports should be
provided to executive staff on a regular basis utilizing the current manual tracking method
and any tracking software implemented in the future.
Use of Force
Enforcement of federal, state, and local laws is a core, though highly complex, duty of the Morgan
Hill Police Department (MHPD). The necessary and appropriate use of force in carrying out these