CPRC staff to auto-upload APD case files to SharePoint to reduce review delays

The Community Police Review Commission on July 17 pressed staff to fix a persistent bottleneck that leaves the commission without enough completed police-investigation files to review.

Chair opened the discussion by describing a recurring problem: "it takes a couple of weeks sometimes" for cases to be loaded and available to commissioners, which leaves working groups without material to review. The Chair said one proposed fix is that "any case that APO decides is important enough to forward, we want those immediately loaded automatically." The comment framed much of the ensuing debate about speed and workload.

APO/commission staff confirmed a change in practice. A staff member told the commission leadership had agreed that "as they become available, we're gonna upload them," and that uploads would notify the whole commission to provide a more consistent workflow.

Commissioners offered operational ideas to make the increased inflow useful. Suggestions included adding a fourth, unassigned SharePoint folder that any commissioner-ready working group can pick from, creating a separate review track outside the monthly meeting cadence, and authorizing three-person subgroups to make interim determinations on time-sensitive matters so recommendations reach decision-makers sooner.

Multiple commissioners cautioned automation alone would not guarantee timely outcomes. One commissioner warned that even when cases circulate quickly, "our conversion rate on how long it takes us as a working group to review those and then make the full recommendation" can still leave recommendations too late to affect the chief's disposition. Several speakers urged pairing improved uploads with process changes so recommendations are drafted and transmitted before final discipline decisions are made.

The staff liaison said the CPRC case review file already contains all cases and that, once triage guidance from the chair and vice chair is given, staff can assign items into working-group folders. Commissioners asked for clearer notifications and for an IT explanation at a future meeting to ensure the automation can be implemented as discussed.

Next steps: staff said they will proceed with the upload approach and notify commissioners when files are posted; commissioners agreed to continue refining downstream processes and to consider the recommended folder and subgroup experiments at future meetings.