Using automation to apply discipline fairly.

Meting out discipline is, at best, an unpleasant administrative task; at worst, it can lead to morale problems and even lawsuits. Most administrators and employees would agree that the key to an effective disciplinary system is consistency. Similar transgressions should receive similar sanctions, thus establishing a fair and predictable pattern of action and reaction for everyone in the organization.

An International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) study concluded that when officers disagree with disciplinary practices, the primary reason is "...the belief that enforcement action is inconsistent."(1) To be consistent, a proper system of discipline, according to some researchers, should consider the seriousness of the offense, the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, and the officer's personal track record.(2) The IACP recommends that substantially similar conduct should receive similar penalties. Widely disparate penalties make it difficult for departments to justify the more serious sanctions.(3) While some departments have established a fixed schedule or matrix of sanctions appropriate for various offenses,(4) the Fresno, Califomia, Police Department (FPD) opted for a more flexible system.

In October of 1991, a new chief of the FPD was sworn in. Because this chief came from outside the department, he did not possess historical knowledge of the department's disciplinary practices. He wanted his actions to be consistent and fair, as well as defensible, should they be appealed to the Civil Service Board. As a result, when he started to address violations within the department, he frequently asked the Internal Affairs Unit (IAU) for records to determine the traditional levels of discipline for specific violations.

The IAU maintained such records in a cumbersome handwritten log, which often made it difficult to determine past actions without extensive research. Moreover, once similar cases had been identified, they still had to be examined closely to assess the level of discipline administered and any mitigating or aggravating circumstances. This time-consuming process needed to be improved and updated.

To accomplish this, the chief first appointed a lieutenant to manage the Internal Affairs Unit, which previously had been staffed by four sergeants and a secretary. He then directed the internal affairs commander to automate the records of internal investigations to address the consistency issue. The objective was to provide management with information, short of a rigid disciplinary matrix, that would facilitate the fair, yet flexible, application of discipline throughout the department.

DESIGNING THE SYSTEM

After acquiring appropriate computer hardware and software,(5) IAU staff members surveyed major California police agencies to locate automated internal affairs records systems to use as a model. The only one they found did not meet their objectives, so they started from scratch.

They gave considerable attention to identifying the possible uses for an automated system. In addition to the primary objective of identifying the levels of discipline imposed, other functions were built into the database to address current and future needs.

The major components of the database design included:

* 17 date fields used to track cases from start to finish

* Precise incident details (including date, time, location, sector, and case number)

* Demographics of complainant(s) and/or involved police employee(s)

* Lists of incident codes covering most conceivable categories of misconduct

* Lists of disposition codes

* Cross-references to databases on civil claims and officer-involved shootings

* Staff recommendations made before and after administrative hearings 

* Verification of completion of disciplinary actions

* A synopsis of all sustained violations using searchable key words.

In short, the designed database exceeded the initial objectives and included features that gave the IAU some flexibility for the future.

Once the design had been completed, details from both active and closed cases were entered into the system. Cases include externally initiated complaints, as well as internally initiated formal investigations of rule or policy violations.

Because the State of California requires that records of complaints be maintained for a minimum of 5 years, all investigations from 1987 through 1992 were included. This produced an initial database of more than 1,300 cases. Subsequently, a local area network linked the unit's computers, allowing simultaneous access to the database by the commander, the investigators, and the secretary. To prevent the inadvertent destruction of data by users unfamiliar with the intricacies of the software, data input and editing functions were restricted to the commander.

After the database was loaded, a number of scripts, or macros, were developed to use the data. To achieve the project's original objective, for example, one macro produces reports of comparative discipline for similar offenses. Another macro generates disciplinary history records on specific employees, which help staff members make progressive disciplinary recommendations and can be used in performance appraisals and reassignment decisions. Confidential quarterly reports summarizing cases by type, units of occurrence, and disposition also can be created quickly and easily. To help manage deadlines and caseloads, status reports on all active investigations that have not been processed through specific stages within established time limits also can be produced.

OBJECTIVES ACHIEVED

The chief initiated the automation project to help him administer discipline equitably. As soon as all the cases were entered into the database, the project achieved this objective. The chief only had to inquire about the standard of discipline for a specific category of violation and the 5-year history could be produced in less than 5 minutes.

The secondary goal was to ensure that the department could defend its actions readily if challenged by the Civil Service Board. In a number of cases where the board has inquired about the consistency of discipline, the IAU staff used the system to prepare reports demonstrating that employees have been treated fairly in comparison with their peers with similar disciplinary backgrounds.

OTHER POSITIVE RESULTS

The new system provided a number of other positive results as well. A variety of reports can be prepared quickly and efficiently, patterns of incidents can be identified more easily, and case management can be improved substantially.

Saved Time and Money

In the past, it took an average of 1 hour to compile a synopsis of an employee's disciplinary history using the manual records. The automated process enables the IAU staff to prepare these reports in less than a minute, which allows them to produce quantities that previously were impractical, if not impossible, due to time constraints. Disciplinary histories have evolved into a major tool in performance appraisals and special assignments. Consequently, the new emphasis on disciplinary history has increased employees' accountability and added a new level of credibility to the selection and appraisal processes.

Each year, the State Attorney General's Office requires the department to submit a summary of complaints. This once-onerous task became quite simple and could be completed in minutes with the computer instead of in hours by hand.

In addition, prior to automation, IAU staff members had to generate manual listings of records more than 5 years old so that the records can be authorized for destruction under state law. With the new system, the lists could be generated entirely by computer, saving approximately 20 work-hours per year.

Compared to the manual system, the overall time savings from automation was estimated at a minimum of 1,000 hours the first year, or approximately $25,000 worth of staff time. The one-time cost of the entire computer system amounted to only $15,000. It more than paid for itself in the first year.

Complaint Patterns Identified

The computerized system allows the staff to sort the data using a number of variables, such as date, time of day, type of complaint, unit, race of participants, supervisor responsible for accused employees, etc. By examining the data in various ways, patterns can be identified that otherwise might be missed. Commanders receive information on their units to see if any patterns or problems can be addressed by training or increased supervision. Habitual complainants also can be identified more easily, which can help investigators establish the veracity of the complaints. Because investigators rotate into and out of the unit fairly often, they can use the system to obtain the big picture surrounding new complaints assigned to them.

The IAU staff also can analyze department-wide complaint characteristics and sort complaints by violation type. With this information, the IAU commander or the chief can examine frequently occurring violations to determine the need for policy modifications, training, and/or increased levels of discipline to correct employee behavior.

Improved Case Management

Using the case-tracking features of the automated system, the IAU commander no longer has to review page upon page of handwritten logs. Instead, a complete status report on outstanding cases can be generated in approximately 2 minutes. This makes it simple to monitor cases as they progress through the system, which improves completion times and eliminates the problem of lost cases. The expedited investigations also reduce the anxiety of accused officers awaiting dispositions, which enhances the credibility of the internal affairs process.

CONCLUSION

To achieve consistency and equity in disciplinary decisionmaking, the Fresno police chief initiated a project to automate internal affairs records. The resulting system gives him information on past practices and facilitates decisions on new cases. In addition, the database provides a substantial number of other benefits, some intended and some unforeseen, that improve the overall quality of discipline management and also reduce costs.

Employees need to be assured of fair treatment. An equitable and well-documented system of discipline can go a long way toward dispelling their concerns.

Endnotes

1 International Association of Chiefs of Police, Executive Summary: Major Recommendations for Management of Effective Police Discipline (Arlington, VA: IACP, 1976), 30.

2 Thomas Barker and David L. Carter, Police Deviance (Cincinnati: Anderson Publishing, 1994), 366.

3 International Association of Chiefs of Police, Managing for Effective Police Discipline (Arlington, VA: IACP, 1977), 77.

4 Ibid.

5 The system uses a standard 486 33 computer processor and a common, commercially available database software package.

Lieutenant Guthrie serves in the Fresno, California, Police Department.