Jefferson County Sheriff's Office Summary Report for July 2"4 - July 14, 2018 Prepared by Sheriff Dave Marshak‘The following report concerning the City of De Soto Police Department outlines the Sheriff's Office role and issues addressed responding to the City’s request for support. Most importantly, are critical recommendations for keeping their Police Officers safe, ensuring citizens get the best protection within their resources, and the city reduces their liability exposure to prevent catastrophic civil payouts. The report summarizes some of the issues identified during the first two weeks of our involvement July 2° to July 14". Notification and Response: | was notified via our attorney Scott Harness on Monday, July 2 that as a result of the City of De Soto Council Meeting that evening, the city was going to request the Sheriff's Office to have a Lieutenant ‘temporarily lead their police department. Their request was attributed to several immediate vacant leadership positions within the Police Department. To gather insight and make the best decisions for Jefferson County, | agreed to meet with both the Mayor (Mr. Rich McCane) and the interim City Manager (Ann Baker) on the afternoon of Tuesday, July 3rd. Prior to that meeting, | met with Lieutenant Scott Schumer to coordinate interest, responsibilities, and authority in running the De Soto Police Department. After the morning meeting, Lt. Schumer immediately started to prepare a packet for De Soto Police Officers that included our policies involving Use of Force, Firearms, Emergency Operations of Vehicles, Pursuits, and Sexual Harassment. Note* There was speculation that De Soto Police did not have a comprehensive set of policies for basic police operations and would often act outside of the scope of normal police procedures. They also had some newsworthy incidents that suggested a lack of policies and compliance. Furthermore, previous Desoto Police leadership had shared that a majority of their road patrol officers had limited experience, guidance, and supervision. Consolidation: | conversed with Ann Baker, and shared that it was my request that we switch De Soto 911 calls to. Jefferson County 911, and that their police radios switch to the Sheriff's Office frequency so we can pay attention to their radio traffic...thus providing guidance and supervision on every shift. | subsequently coordinated with Jefferson County 911 to prepare for the consolidation. At approximately 1:30 P.M. on July 3rd, | attended a meeting with Captain Gary Higginbotham, Lieutenant Scott Schumer, Interim City Manager Ann Baker, and Mayor Rich McCane at the De Soto City Hall. Upon arrival, we learned of additional resignations impacting the Police Department. | was advised that the remaining Police Department employees were going to meet for a mandatory meeting at 2:00 P.M in the Council Chambers. | also confirmed at that point that the City of De Soto was requesting the Sheriff's Office to provide leadership, and would be paying the County of Jefferson for expenses incurred, We also agreed to submit information related to any findings as a result of some consolidation and supervision. ‘Around 2:00 P.M. approximately eight (8) - nine (9) police officers entered the Council Chambers awaiting information. Mayor McCain shared with the Police Officers that the Sheriff's Office was to provide a Lieutenant, and that the authority of the Police Department was under the direction of Lieutenant Scott Schumer and the Jefferson County Sheriff’ Office. Initial Findings:The De Soto Police Department Road Patrol has officers working twelve-hour (12) hour shifts, which is, ‘an accepted common practice/schedule with policing. To prepare for the transition at 6:00 P.M. that evening, we inquired which officers were working, Two officers raised their hands. Not knowing their experience levels, but knowing the department lacked supervision, | asked questions about supervision. earned at that time there was only one supervisor for the entre department. When | asked to identify the Detective responsible if there was a crime that the new officers could not handle, | was informed they did not have one. When | inquired about the last time they reviewed their policies and procedures — specifically their Use of Force policy, my question was returned with blank stares and one comment that their Field Training Officer (FTO) talked about it. The more questions | asked, the more issues were identified. | coordinated with Jefferson County 911 to respond to the De Soto Police Dispatching center at 5:15 P.M. to finish the switch for 911 calls. | met with the lead Dispatcher and shared that calls would be handled through Jefferson County 911. | advised that they could still answer non-emergency calls, but ‘we were re-routing priority calls. We answered questions regarding stats for reporting, and Computer ‘Aided Dispatch (CAD) entry. | shared that if needed we could route the non-emergency calls to 911 ‘Communications if necessary. Their only assignment was to transfer and move non-priority calls, and give the officers a report number if they needed one. Lt. Schumer began coordinating with current police officers and on-coming Watch Commanders with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office to immediately start training De Soto Police on our policies and procedures. Specifically, we focused on Use of Force, Firearms, Pursuit, Emergency Operations of Vehicles, and Sexual Harassment. Each employee signed an acknowledgment form agreeing that they were both trained and understood those critical policies. The directive was that every shift would get the same training. We coordinated with each Watch Commander to provide leadership, support, and guidance beginning at 6:00 P.M. on Tuesday, July 2". Through subsequent interviews with the officers, we further confirmed a lack of policies, knowledge of policies, and a failure to train on policies (or multiple sets of policies). We also learned that there were no canine policies for the department canine ‘on how it would be used, training records, etc. We advised the canine officer he was not allowed to bring the canine to work until we had policies and investigated further. Immediate Issues Identified: Lack of policies Lack of knowledge of policies and procedures Lack of training on policies and procedures Lack of supervision on each shift Lack of experience on each shift Lack of resources Lt. Patrick Hawkins met with De Soto Police Officers for their first shift at 6:00 P.M. to train them on policies they were adopting. According to Lt. Hawkins, he learned that the evidence room had a pipe burst, and that some evidence might have been compromised as a result. The city was actively working on the issue, and the department was temporarily without water.