If there is an officer involved shooting in Salinas in the future, the investigation will be directed by the Monterey County District Attorney's office, under a policy update approved this week by Police Chief Kelly McMillin and DA Dean Flippo.
The change is intended to build public confidence that such investigations are independent and objective.
Previously, most OIS investigations were conducted by the Police Department. No problem has been found with any of them, but Chief McMillin says he supports a Department of Justice recommendation that OIS cases be handled by an independent third party. That recommendation was made by the DOJ's COPS Office in its Collaborative Reform report on the PD, which was released on March 12.
"I have every confidence that our investigations are expert, thorough, and fair," said Chief McMillin. "My confidence was borne out again by the COPS Office's review of our investigations of officer involved shootings that occurred in 2014. But I agree with the review team that an extra layer of objectivity will help build the public's confidence, especially given the nationwide concern about police-community relations."
In a report containing many recommendations for improving community policing in Salinas, the COPS Office rated the PD's three recent OIS investigations as "good" to "excellent" in 59 out of 60 scores (20 for each case), with one "fair" for a shortcoming in a single document. A fourth 2014 OIS case went directly to the DA's office.
Under the new OIS policy, the District Attorney's Office will be the lead agency in all investigations in which a person is injured or dies as the result of an officer involved shooting, or dies as the result of any other action of an officer.
Detectives and crime scene investigators will respond to such an incident as they have in the past, but from now on they will operate under the direction of, and in support of, the DA Investigators assigned as the lead case agents. The Chief of Police will continue to have responsibility for internal, administrative investigations covering policy compliance.
Chief McMillin will be available to answer questions from reporters at the Police Department today starting at 11 a.m.
Requests for interviews of District Attorney Dean Flippo will be managed by the DA's office, at (831) 755-5470.
