About 21 of the 142 reform recommendations have been finished (15%) ― which is up from less than 4% in late April, according to the police reform implementation tracker.
Four other recommendations have the framework established and implementation efforts continue, the tracker says, and 44 others are in progress.
The remaining 73 recommendations have not started, remain in a city commission fact-finding process, await the implementation of other reforms or are the responsibility of a different department, the tracker says.
Some changes have been made to policies, like prohibiting chokeholds, emphasizing de-escalation tactics and adding language that considers striking a person in the head with an object as deadly force.
Other changes have included offering an ethics line for anonymous complaints, expanding the ways people can file complaints against police and creating new civil service test prep materials and an information guide for police applicants with cultural competency in mind.
The Dayton Police Department has created a full-time recruitment unit, and changed its policy so that unholstering a firearm and pointing it at a person is considered use of force that must be reported.
A polygraph test administered to police candidates will now focus on weeding out candidates who might have authoritarian or racist views and violent tendencies.
One recommendation called for using the city’s Dayton Delivers app for complaint intake and other purposes, but multiple departments evaluated the proposal and determined it was not a viable solution, the tracker says.
Some community members who were involved in developing reform recommendations believe one of the most impactful and consequential changes will come from implementing an alternative-response program.
The recommendation is to send non-police workers to certain kinds of calls for service, possibly involving mental health or drug addiction issues.
The city is considering entering into a $150,000 contract with Washington, D.C.,-based Dignity Best Practices to create the alternative response “infrastructure.”
The contract appeared on the city commission’s agenda at the group’s last meeting, but it was pulled because city officials said they still had a few details to work out. The contract is expected to come up for a vote on Wednesday.
“This contract is for a consultant to take the alternative response implementation plan being created by Law Enforcement Action Partnership and help to build the infrastructure needed to have a successful launch of the alternative response model,” said Parlette, deputy city manager.
Last month, the city commission approved revising Dayton’s budget, which provided about $279,500 in additional funding for police reform-related expenses.
The increased spending authority included $150,000 for the alternative response model contract, $70,000 for helping establish a new community appeals board and $40,000 for a new mediations specialist, according to the city.
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