Office of Internal Oversight

Captain Kirk Primas
Sergeant Kelly McMahill
Officer Jess Kegley
Officer Jonathan Simon

Analyst Toni Pond

Background: 

Sheriff Douglas Gillespie created LVMPD’s Office of Internal Oversight in February of 2012, to provide a continual review process for all issues surrounding the use of deadly force by police officers. As an agency that places the highest value in human life, we are committed to reducing the number of deadly force incidents by our officers and providing more public accountability and transparency in all areas related to the responsibilities of our police officers and the use of deadly force. 

Vision/Mission:

Our vision is to significantly reduce deadly force incidents. We will accomplish this by providing a continuous critical review in order to be more accountable to the community. 

Goals:

The goals of the Office of Internal Oversight are based upon seven fundamentals of Policy, Training, Tactics, Leadership, Investigations, Accountability, and Community Inclusion.

1. Ensure LVMPD policies are current, relevant, and meet the criteria of constitutional policing. 


2. Ensure training that allows officers to police safely and effectively within the guidelines of LVMPD Policy and law. 


3. Ensure tactics employed by police officers are safe and reflect the appropriate level of force while emphasizing de-escalation.  


4. Ensure leadership is provided to officers in order to uphold the standards of LVMPD policy, training, tactics and law.


5. Conduct timely, thorough, objective and independent investigations based upon the standards of LVMPD Policy and law. 


6. Ensure LVMPD employees are held accountable to both internal and external standards.


7. Build a culture that supports organizational transparency and community inclusion.

What is currently taking place in the Office of Internal Oversight?

COPS Office Review
In December of 2011, Sheriff Gillespie contacted the Department of Justice in Washington DC for their assistance. We have since partnered with the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Office which is a branch of the Department of Justice. As a result, LVMPD is now in the process of having an independent investigation conducted into our use of force policies and procedures.

Use of Force Policy Review

LVMPD recognized the need for improvement in our use of deadly force. An extensive review of our Use of Force Policy began in February of 2012. We completed the review and implementation of the changes in May of 2012, conducted extensive training for LVMPD personnel, and announced the updated policy to the public in July of 2012.  The following is a link to an LVMPD video addressing the topic:  Sheriff's video.   The updated policy can be found here:  Use of Force POLICY.

ACLU & NAACP Petition Recommendations
The local chapters of the ACLU and NAACP also reached out with recommended changes and improvements to our Use of Force procedures. The Office of Internal Oversight is reviewing these recommendations and will keep you informed on each of those recommendations and what we have done to support them. 


What is the future of the Office of Internal Oversight?

The Office of Internal Oversight will be accountable to the community on a quarterly basis. We will report on what changes and improvements have been made toward reducing the number of deadly force indents our officers are involved in.

The Office of Internal Oversight is committed to keeping our community informed as we move through the review process with the COPS Office. We anticipate getting a list of recommendations from the COPS Office in August of 2012 and will keep the community informed of our progress towards addressing those recommendations.