COLORADO SPRINGS — The Law Enforcement Transparency and Advisory Committee with City Council recommended the recommendations from the Use of Force study CSPD independently contracted with another company.
The 280-page report outlines several areas where CSPD excels at their use of force policies, such as promoting a culture of de-escalation, but outlining areas of improvement, like increased transparency.
The report makes 8 recommendations that LATEC Vice Chair Steve Kern says the committee has taken very seriously.
"We engaged in a process ourselves that took three months of looking at each of the recommendations, looking at them very very carefully, and deciding whether we believe they merited support," said Kern.
The 8 recommendations from the report are:
(1) Enhance agency culture that emphasizes, reinforces, and rewards the use of de-escalation tactics and skills by officers through systematic documentation, continual reinforcement of policies and training, and development of accountability and oversight mechanisms.
(2) Continue the processes established for the CSPD’s Use of Force Committee for comprehensive and routine reviews and updates to policy.
(3) Review and update the documentation, policy, training, and supervisory oversight related to the pointing of firearms at a person.
(4) Conduct an independent audit of CSPD use of force training to ensure content, quality, and duration of use of force training is meeting industry best practices.
(5) Enhance transparency through the timely release of information to the community to improve public confidence and trust.
(6) Continue to enhance supervision, accountability & oversight related to use of force.
(7) Review and make appropriate changes to use of force data collection to meet best practices.
(8) Work internally and externally to continually reduce racial/ethnic disparities in use of force.
If you'd like to learn more about the report or read a 20 page summary of the report, you can visit the Colorado Springs Police Department City website.
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