Report 2012-107 Recommendation 5 Responses

Report 2012-107: Developmental Centers: Poor-Quality Investigations, Outdated Policies, Leadership and Staffing Problems, and Untimely Licensing Reviews Put Residents at Risk (Release Date: July 2013)

Recommendation #5 To: Developmental Services, Department of

To avoid jeopardizing the integrity of its criminal investigations with compelled statements acquired through administrative admonishments, the department should require that different OPS investigators conduct the administrative investigation and the criminal investigation when they involve the same incident.

1-Year Agency Response

On May 16, 2014, OPS issued Policy 9.9, Criminal Investigative Procedures. The new policy states the following:

If any allegations of sexual assault, abuse, or neglect could rise to the level of criminal conduct, or in any other instance where a crime is alleged to have occurred, then the criminal and administrative investigations must be bifurcated, and will require reports by separate investigators. When staffing impedes the ability to assign the bifurcated cases to two separate investigators, the Commander shall coordinate with his fellow Commanders and/or the Chief to obtain temporary assistance/support from another investigator to ensure the cases remain bifurcated.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Fully Implemented

6-Month Agency Response

DDS is committed to implementing best practices and is conducting further research on this recommendation. Although separating the administrative and criminal investigations was noted as an "industry" standard in the 2002 Attorney General's report, throughout the extensive process of seeking input from law enforcement experts for policy development since 2002, DDS has received conflicting guidance as to the appropriateness of requiring different investigators for administrative and criminal investigations of the same incident.

As reported in Recommendation 3, DDS is in the process of establishing a contract with a nationally recognized provider of law enforcement policies to develop the OPS Policy and Procedure Manual. Once the contract is in place, DDS will seek advice from the contractor on this issue. Prior to completion of the manual, DDS will make a final policy decision regarding the appropriate method of addressing administrative and criminal investigations of the same incident. The decision will be incorporated into the policy manual and implemented statewide.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Pending

60-Day Agency Response

DDS is committed to implementing best practices and is currently in consultation with external law enforcement legal experts for input on the appropriate method of addressing this recommendation. Before implementing any change, the issue needs to be thoroughly researched, policies and procedures carefully developed, and organizational impacts addressed. Although separating the administrative and criminal investigations was noted as an "industry" standard in the 2002 Attorney General's report, throughout the extensive process of seeking input from law enforcement experts for policy development, DDS has received conflicting guidance as to the appropriateness of requiring different investigators for administrative and criminal investigations of the same incident. DDS will continue to evaluate implementation of the recommendation and will provide an update in its next scheduled response to the State Auditor.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Pending

All Recommendations in 2012-107

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.