PRESS RELEASE:
Kansas City Missouri Police collect a lot of data about use of force among officers, but they need to do a better job of using and disseminating that data, according to an internal audit report released today.
The Internal Audit Unit found the data was collected well on paper forms whenever an officer used deadly force, a non-deadly weapon or caused or incurred injury, but the forms weren’t being put into databases accessible to as many department elements as they could be. For example, defensive tactics instructors at the Police Academy were unable to access the information. They use that data to determine whether any of the techniques they teach cause injury to suspects or officers and adjust their instruction accordingly.
Internal auditors recommended all the information currently collected on Response to Resistance forms be input into a new employee program called SEERS (Successful Employee Enhancement and Retention System). This would allow all pertinent elements access to the use-of-force information and identify any officers who repeatedly were involved in incidents in which force was used.
The Internal Audit Unit also released results of its post audit about “buy money,” which is used to conduct under-cover drug and criminal investigations. The audit found under-cover units are doing a better job at securing, tracking and reporting expenditures of this money.
The audit reports are available online at www.kcmo.org/police/AboutUs/Audit/index.htm. For more information about the audits, contact Internal Audit Unit Manager Tom Gee at 816-889-6051.
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