Report 2021-105 Recommendation 32 Responses
Report 2021-105: Law Enforcement Departments Have Not Adequately Guarded Against Biased Conduct (Release Date: April 2022)
Recommendation #32 To: San Bernardino Police Department
To improve its ability to recruit qualified applicants who reflect the diversity of its communities, by October 2022, San Bernardino Police should have a process for regularly monitoring data on the diversity of its current personnel, its new hires, and to the extent possible, its applicant pool. It should use these data to evaluate the success of its recruitment efforts and identify needed areas of improvement
Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From September 2023
The Department has added the recommended language and formalized its intent to review applicant diversity data quarterly to inform its recruitment and hiring strategies.
- Completion Date: September 2023
California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Partially Implemented
San Bernardino Police has not provided an updated plan demonstrating that it has addressed the concerns we identified. In our previous assessment of its recruitment plan, we noted that the plan shows that the department collects data on the diversity of its applicants and current staff, and that it uses those data related to its current staff to inform recruitment and hiring strategies. However, the plan does not yet formalize San Bernardino Police's stated intent to review applicant diversity data quarterly to inform its recruitment efforts. When San Bernardino Police demonstrates that it has formalized that strategy into its recruitment plan, we will assess this recommendation as fully implemented.
- Auditee did not substantiate its claim of full implementation
- Auditee did not address all aspects of the recommendation
6-Month Agency Response
The Department tracks the diversity of its employees through voluntary statements and visual assessments. In addition, human resources track the applicant candidate pool diversity. The candidates provide this data voluntarily, so it may not reflect the entire candidate pool. Beginning June 2022, the Department will solicit candidate pool diversity data quarterly. The Department will use this data to assess and modify recruitment efforts.
- Completion Date: June 2022
- Response Date: October 2022
California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Partially Implemented
San Bernardino Police provided a new recruitment plan that includes a strategy for monitoring data on the diversity of its current personnel to assess its recruitment strategies. It also provided evidence that it has collected data on both the diversity of its current personnel and its applicant pool. However, its recruitment plan does not formalize San Bernardino Police's stated intent to review applicant diversity data quarterly to inform its recruitment efforts. When that strategy is formalized into its recruitment plan, we will assess this recommendation as fully implemented.
- Auditee did not address all aspects of the recommendation
All Recommendations in 2021-105
Agency responses received are posted verbatim.