Opinion ID: 169352
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Decree

Text: 4 Some provisions of the Decree appear designed more to help the community than the members of the plaintiff class. Section 2 of the Decree requires the City to apply for accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA), whose purpose is to develop a set of law enforcement standards; and to establish and administer an accreditation process through which law enforcement agencies could demonstrate voluntarily that they meet professionally-recognized criteria for excellence in management and service delivery. R. Vol. III at 328. The City must continue to meet CALEA standards and reapply for accreditation every three years. 5 Likewise, § 12 requires the City to review its training curriculum to ensure that the training supports the objectives of the Court's Decree to unify the Department and the Community, id. at 337-38, and to prepare a report of its findings and the steps taken to implement them, id. at 338. Section 16 prohibits racial bias in policing and requires the City to adopt and implement policies promoting cooperation between police officers and citizens. And § 17 requires the City to implement policies to create a partnership between the TPD and members of the community.
6 Other Decree provisions forbid discrimination in hiring, promotion, and police operations, and require specific procedures to give officers a fair opportunity for advancement. Section 5 1 sets out the process for making specialty assignments (assignments that are not bid under the regular bid process) within the TPD. Subsection 5.1 requires that [a]ll specialty assignments ... be made on the basis of merit and fitness, and § 5.2 requires that the TPD post specialty-assignment vacancies and that the posting include information about the position such as the assignment, the job description, minimum qualifications of that assignment and preferred qualifications. Id. at 331-32. Subsection 5.4 specifies that the Major shall accept applications and make a recommendation for each position to the Deputy Chief, who will then forward that recommendation and his or her own recommendation to the Chief of Police for a final decision. All applicants must be notified of the final decision. Subsection 5.5 requires the TPD to adopt and implement a policy prohibiting those in the chain of command of positions being filled from directly or indirectly recruiting persons to apply for a specialty assignment other than through the new announcement procedure, unless no qualified person applies for the position during the three weeks following the posting. Id. at 332. Subsection 5.6 states that the minimum requirements for each specialty assignment must directly relate to the requirements of the position, and § 5.7 provides that the TPD may not open the position to all applicants unless no one meets those minimum qualifications. 7 Section 6, which addresses recruiting, provides that all hiring shall be based on merit and fitness. Id. at 334. The TPD must establish a recruiting task force to evaluate and develop strategies for recruiting, including the recruitment of women and minorities. To attract and retain applicants, id., the TPD must offer temporary employment opportunities to those accepted to the police academy. Section 7 states that promotions must be based on merit and fitness. Section 9 requires the City to ensure that all supervisors enjoy all of the rights and privileges which normally accompany their rank, id. at 336. (This provision is apparently a response to allegations that African-American supervisors did not receive proper deference from subordinates). Section 13 2 requires the City to adopt and implement a policy forbidding retaliation directed at any officer or civilian raising matters of public concern, including but not limited to, claims of racial, gender, religious, or national origin discrimination. Id. at 339. And § 14 requires the City to adopt a policy describing the obligation of officers to provide back-up support for other officers and to investigate complaints of backing failures.
8 Two Decree provisions relate to data necessary to monitor compliance with the Decree's requirements. Section 3 requires the TPD to maintain a data-collection system that tracks information on each officer, including race, gender, assignments, training, performance ratings, complaints, discipline, traffic citations, arrests, and civil complaints. Section 27 adds to these obligations the requirement that the City maintain the records necessary to document its compliance with the terms of th[e] Decree. Id. at 351. Subsection 27.3 grants access by the Independent Auditor (a monitoring position created by the Decree, to be discussed later) to a wide variety of TPD data and reports. Under § 27.4 Counsel for Plaintiffs shall be provided access to the[se] documents and data ... upon reasonable request to the City. Id. at 353. Subsections 27.4 and 27.5 state that Plaintiffs may also request other open records relevant to compliance and shall have the right to share with Plaintiffs' Counsel information relevant to compliance with this Decree available to them over the Department's intranet. Id. In addition, under § 27.8 [t]he City shall provide Plaintiffs' counsel quarterly access to the Chief of Police. Id. at 354.
9 The Decree also establishes mechanisms for overseeing compliance with antidiscrimination and other requirements. Section 11, 3 which addresses discipline within the TPD, reorganizes the Internal Affairs Section into two squads: the Investigations Squad, charged with investigating complaints, and the Audit and Inspections Squad, which must ensure that the TPD is operating consistent[ly] with the Department's policies by conduct[ing] such investigations and audits of the Department's data as necessary. Id. at 336-37. Subsection 11.3 requires the City to adopt and implement policies and procedures to ensure that every stage of the disciplinary process, from the initiation of an investigation to the punishment given to an officer, is free from racial and or gender discrimination. Id. at 337. 10 Section 21 creates a nine-member committee of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma named the Dispute Avoidance and Resolution Committee (Dispute Resolution Committee). The members are to be three citizens proposed by the parties and selected by the district court, two members selected by the Plaintiffs, two senior members of the TPD selected by the City, and two selected by the FOP. Section 22 describes the Committee's primary objective as to collect and review information regarding compliance from the Independent Auditor [created in § 26] and the City and then provide the Parties an opportunity to discuss issues concerning the requirements of this Decree, assist in the resolution of issues relevant to this Decree, and assist the Parties in avoiding future litigation over these matters. 4 Id. at 346. Section 23 gives the Committee the authority to act as an adjunct settlement judge under Local Rule 16.2 of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma in any settlement conference between the parties. If the Plaintiffs believe that the City has failed to fulfill any of its obligations under the Decree, § 25.2 requires that they give written notice of the alleged failure to the City and the Committee 45 days before initiating any court proceeding. 11 Section 26 5 creates an Independent Auditor, appointed by the court and paid by the City (no more than $36,000 per year, unless essential to effectuate the Decree), who shall perform a review of the City's compliance with the terms of th[e] Decree and shall report to the Committee three (3) times a year as to the City's compliance. Id. at 350. The City is to provide the Independent Auditor with necessary access to persons and information. The Independent Auditor's role is limited to compliance with th[e] Decree; the Independent Auditor is not a substitute for Internal Affairs or criminal investigations. Id.
12 Sections 28 to 31 of the Decree address individual grievances arising from pre-Decree discrimination. Those with claims of race discrimination, retaliation, wrongful discharge, or harassment in employment that arose before August 1, 2001, could file in district court a sworn statement of their claim within 60 days of entry of the Decree (which was on May 12, 2003). Those found to have been wrongfully denied a promotion could recover all available Title VII relief, front pay, and back pay (up to $200,000), but no punitive damages. Those who established wrongful termination before August 1, 2001, could receive back and front pay up to $150,000 and all other available Title VII relief. For other claims that accrued before August 1, 2001, claimants could recover compensatory damages (including lost wages up to $10,000). With respect to all claims, successful individual claimants could recover attorney fees and expenses up to $3,000 and a one-time additional $10,000 in attorney fees and expenses for litigating the statute of limitations, discrimination in the promotion process, or discrimination and retaliation in discipline.
13 Under the Decree, the district court retains jurisdiction of the action. Section 32 provides that after five years the City may move for dissolution of the Decree upon a showing that it has been in substantial compliance for two years. Should the City move for dissolution, the Plaintiffs may object and present evidence at a court hearing. Both Parties agreed to defend the Decree against third-party attacks. Finally, the Decree states that Plaintiffs intended to move for attorney fees. 14 Many of the Decree's provisions were explained in a Notice of Proposed Settlement of Class Action, Fairness Hearing and Right to Object that the parties submitted to the court in December 2002. The purpose of the Notice was to inform class members of the provisions of the proposed Decree, and it contained much of the language included in the final Decree. At least one provision in the Notice differed from the Decree. Under the heading Monitoring by Plaintiffs, the Notice stated, The Decree provides opportunities for Plaintiffs to monitor compliance by requiring the City to provide their counsel with a number of documents, reports, and data. R. Vol. II at 175. Although the final Decree does give Plaintiffs' counsel access to certain documents, it contains no use of the word monitor.