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Informational Report: Police Oversight Mechanisms December 15, 2020 Page 2 United States'. Police oversight mechanisms in the United States operate in a variety of political and socioeconomic environments and exhibit variation in terms of their formal authority, level of professionalization, staffing, budgetary authority, and style of oversight. They are often created through a local government ordinance or an amendment to the local government charter" The simplest police oversight mechanisms consist of board of citizens that can review the findings of investigations conducted by the police agency's internal affairs division. Such police oversight mechanisms often have little or no budgetary authority, with the board of citizens serving on a volunteer basis. More organizationally complex police oversight mechanisms may include a paid full-time staff of lawyers, investigators, and policy analysts that report to the citizen board. Such police oversight mechanisms often have substantial budgetary authority, the ability to conduct independent investigations into citizen complaints, and access to police evidence records and electronic databases. The methodology for the appointment of citizen participants often varies across jurisdictions. NACOLE's Classifications of Police Oversight The September 15, 2020 informational report also shared NACOLE's three classifications of police oversight: Investigation -focused model: involves routine, independent investigations of complaints against police officers, which may replace or duplicate police internal affairs processes, staffed by non -police civilian investigators. Review -focused model: concentrates on commenting on completed investigations after reviewing the quality of police internal affairs investigations. Recommendations may be made to police executives regarding findings, or there may be a request that further investigations be conducted. A review board composed of citizen volunteers commonly heads this model, and they may hold public meetings to collect community input, and facilitate police -community communication. Auditor/monitor model: focuses on examining broad patterns in complaint investigations including patterns in the quality of investigations, findings, and discipline rendered. Further, in some cities that use this model, auditor/monitors may actively participate in or monitor open internal investigations. This model often seeks to promote broad organizational change by conducting systematic reviews of police policies, practices or training, and making recommendations for improvement. Police Oversight Models with Investigatory Powers A 2001 report published by the U.S. Department of Justice's National Institute of Justice provides the following summary to describe police oversight with investigatory or subpoena powers: This model consists of assigned members who have the additional authority to investigate complaints separately and externally from the police department. This model is generally seen in organizations who have a history of serious patterns and practices of misconduct. The board or 65D-2