It is officially here
After several years of negotiations, the Telematics orders have been officially agreed upon. As mentioned in other Warning Bells articles, Telematics is the electronic vehicle monitoring system that tracks your vehicle’s location, speed, seat belt use, light bar activity, braking and much more. The purpose of this article is to highlight the protections that have been built into the orders for you. What Telematics does and the inherent dangers it may present to your career have been discussed in previous articles. On the flip side, it may also save lives. At least that is the Department’s hope, as well as the League’s.
As with any rights that you have, you must know and understand them. Then, if they are violated, you must have the intestinal fortitude to point it out and insist that the rules be followed. (The League will help you.)
Training period: You will have 60 days to get used to the system. This is not for you to learn how to turn it on or run it; it is on and running without your input. This is to allow you to get used to what the system does and to realize on a personal level how it is going to affect your everyday professional life. The Department will train you on what Telematics does and what you must do to access it. For 60 days, unintentional deviations from policy and procedure revealed by Telematics data are training issues and
will result in non-documented counseling and training only.
Note the word “unintentional” before the deviations. Intentional is another matter and may have a different result. After the 60 days, the Department will begin progressive discipline for deviations. They are not supposed to start with the guillotine. The order says this: “Once the transition period has passed, action taken by commanding officers as a result of audits, inspections, or compliance reviews of Telematics data should include positive reinforcement when behavior is consistent with Department policy and procedure, and training, counseling, an Employee Comment Sheet or a Notices to Correct Deficiencies for deviations prior to initiating personnel complaints.”
Key Performance Indicators: They are known as KPIs to the techies. When the Telematics system hits a certain threshold as defined by the programmers, it notes it and records the incident, vehicle, date, time and location. Then it has the capability to add it to a report or even send the watch commander an email.
The League was concerned that each individual division’s command staff would decide on different criteria for a KPI. That would eventually result in uneven discipline results across the Department. So, the Chief has decided that all divisions would have the same standard three KPIs. They are:
1) Speeding over 70 miles an hour on surface streets
2) Speeding over 80 miles an hour on freeways and
3) Seat belt disengagement outside of tactical situations as identified by Manual section 4/289.
KPIs that are exceeded cause “trigger events.” What they trigger is a notification to management. Because you activated a trigger does not mean that you have deviated from Department policy. You may have a plausible reason for exceeding the speed limit or unbuckling your seat belt. It probably will, however, cause an inquiry. Be ready to have a viable explanation, or don’t do it.
Seat belt extenders: Some of you have been using seat belt extenders that you have purchased yourself. They interfere with the Telematics data. Probably unknown to most of you, there is a seat
belt extender order that came out in 2008. Only Motorized Transport Division authorized seat belt extenders can be used. Contact them for the legal seat belt extender or have them baptize yours.
Right to access data: There is always the likelihood that if your report or your interview statement turns out to be different than your Telematics data, that someone (Department, District Attorney, plaintiff ’s attorney, jury) will call the inconsistency a lie. Accuracy being our most important product, you need to review the Telematics data before you write a report or submit to an interview. You have that right in the Telematics orders, even if it is a Categorical Use of Force. Exercise it.
False or misleading allegations: The Department says this: “It is not the intent of the Department to initiate complaints or frame additional allegations of false and/or misleading statements for discrepancies between an officer’s memory of an incident and what is on Telematics data, unless there is a material discrepancy, indicating an intention to deceive.” And this: “When considering whether allegations of false and/or misleading statements are appropriate in any case involving Telematics data, the Department will consider the materiality of the discrepancy and factors that are reasonably likely to affect the officer’s memory, including the stress caused by the incident, the time elapsed between the incident and the interview, and fatigue.” Furthermore, if Telematics data is withheld from you, “the withheld data will not be used as the sole basis for an allegation of making a false and/or misleading statement, unless the Department can establish that the officer made an intentionally false material statement.”
Or, you could review the data prior to writing a report or making a statement and make sure you are correct, thereby avoiding this issue.
Demonstrably false allegations: If allegations are made against you that the Telematics data clearly refutes, the allegation will be classified as “demonstrably false” and you need not even be interviewed
on the complaint.
Discovery of other minor misconduct: What if while examining data for a pursuit the data reveals a seat belt violation? The Department says that the investigators should keep their eye on the ball. It says this: “Conduct discovered during the review of Telematics data in connection with an investigation should focus on the object of the investigation, and not broaden into minor misconduct allegations that were not part of the main inquiry.” And: “Other conduct discovered in Telematics data connected with an audit, inspection, compliance review, personnel complaint, use of force investigation, or pursuit investigation should not become the sole basis for framing additional allegations of minor misconduct. Framing additional allegations is appropriate when the actions of the employee would be considered serious misconduct.”
Final thoughts: The Telematics data is kept for at least a year. Although you are directed not to attach the data to a report, be aware that it will be subject to discovery for criminal and civil trials, not to mention Department audits. Accuracy in reports, statements and testimony is vital. The consequences of inaccuracies can be catastrophic.
Never in the history of the Department has it been possible to be as accurate in report writing and testimony as it is now because of body-worn video, digital in-car video and now Telematics. Conversely, if you do not use these tools, never in the history of the Department has it been easier to turn a report or testimony into an alleged lie. False reports and false testimony are crimes. Political winds blow inconsistencies into perceived false statements and terminations, and criminal/civil jeopardy follow. Take the wind out of the political sails, review your BWV, DICVS and Telematics BEFORE you write a report or provide a statement, and be accurate.
Be legally careful out there.
