In April 2022, Transparency Matters LLC (TM) published the results of a study of the Colorado Springs Police Department’s (CSPD) use of force, training of police officers, de-escalation tactics, communication initiatives, and many other important areas of our department.
One of the most important recommendations made by TM is that CSPD select a vendor to conduct an independent audit of our use of force, de-escalation, procedural justice, and crisis response training to ensure its content, quality, and duration meets industry best practices.
Today, CSPD is announcing the selection of the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) of Washington, D.C., to conduct this independent audit. PERF was selected because of their expertise in this field, which includes similar reviews of other police departments and the development of the Integrating Communications, Assessment, and Tactics (ICAT) law enforcement decision-making model.
PERF was selected by a group consisting of a community member, a representative of the Law Enforcement Transparency & Advisory Commission (LETAC), a CSPD officer, CSPD training supervisor, and two CSPD staff members.
CSPD Chief of Police Adrian Vasquez said, “Transparency, continued improvement of the services we provide, and safety for our community members and police officers are amongst our most important commitments. We are excited to partner with PERF to identify where and how we can improve the training our officers receive, with the goal of enhancing de-escalation and reducing the use of force in police-community interactions.”
CSPD anticipates the training audit will take approximately nine months. The completed audit report will be provided publicly via the CSPD internet page, and PERF will hold a public meeting to discuss their findings and recommendations.
CSPD has also completed or is currently working on several other recommendations from TM report, including:
- Implementing Significant Event Briefing videos in February 2023, which provide a public video briefing within 21 days of a significant event.
- Providing enhanced training on de-escalation for all sworn employees (April – June 2023).
- Planning & providing several in-person supervisor training courses throughout 2023.
- Developing & providing enhanced training to all sworn department supervisors on how we review instances of use of force (March 2023) and pointing of firearms (August 2023) by our police officers.
- Developing updated policies on use of force, reporting use of force, and pointing of firearms (February – August 2023).
- Developing new first-line supervisor and mentorship programs for sworn and professional staff supervisors (in progress).
- Expanding department programs and partnerships designed to build upon our relationship with community members (in progress).
- Continuing to develop a Procedural Justice model for our department, with the goal of enhancing how we communicate with the people we serve (in progress).
The entirety of the Transparency Matters study, including recommendations made to CSPD, can be found on CSPD’s website at https://coloradosprings.gov/police-department/page/transparency-matters-report.