San Diego City Auditor launches review of police Internal Affairs unit

San Diego’s city auditor is launching a review of how the Police Department’s Internal Affairs unit handles misconduct complaints and is seeking public input as his office begins shaping the scope of the probe.

The examination is one of 21 audits of city agencies approved for the coming fiscal year and is expected to be completed next fall.

City Auditor Andy Hanau said the decision to audit the unit was based on several factors, including strong public interest reflected in an outreach survey “and the crucial role Internal Affairs plays in ensuring that officers provide high quality policing services to residents and that any police misconduct is addressed effectively and fairly.”

The audit is expected to take 2,200 hours, making it one of the more work-intensive of the scheduled audits.

Earlier this month, auditors briefed the Commission on Police Practices — the independent body charged with reviewing San Diego police misconduct investigations — and asked commissioners to identify any concerns or patterns they believe warrant closer scrutiny.

The city’s audit follows the CPP’s own evaluation, released late last year, of how internal affairs complaints are handled. Hanau and his staff acknowledged this work in comments to commissioners.

“Our goal is not to duplicate the work you’ve already done but to build off that work,” he said.

For its own evaluation, the commission hired oversight attorney Jerry Threet to review 153 misconduct cases commissioners had been unable to examine because they exceeded the one-year disciplinary deadline set by California’s Peace Officers Bill of Rights.

Threet’s final report commended the Police Department’s “commitment to a robust accountability system,” but identified flaws in how the department investigates complaints and made 60 recommendations.

In a detailed review of 20 selected cases, Threet found every investigation to be incomplete in some way and “less than fully objective.”

His broader review of all 153 cases revealed similar issues: investigators often failed to interview complainants, dismissed credible allegations without explanation, relied on narrow interpretations of policy violations and often missed internal deadlines for completing investigations.

Threet also found that Internal Affairs investigators “frequently accepted the officers’ views that their actions were reasonable without analysis of the broader circumstances.” In use-of-force cases, investigators rarely examined whether force was necessary under department policy or whether de-escalation — required under state law — had been attempted, Threet wrote.

Commissioners echoed these concerns to auditors and urged them to examine how Internal Affairs evaluates de-escalation in use-of-force cases, particularly those involving police dogs.

Commissioner Doug Case asked auditors to look at how the Internal Affairs unit evaluates complaints alleging discrimination. During his more than 15 years on the CPP and its predecessor, the Citizens Review Board on Police Practices, Case said he recalled only one instance when investigators sustained a discrimination complaint.

According to the audit work plan, the review will examine whether Internal Affairs “is structured and operates in line with best practices and whether it handles investigations effectively, equitably, and in compliance with applicable laws and policies.”

Auditors will sample case files, analyze how San Diego police categorizes complaints, evaluate the quality of interviews and evidence collection, and assess whether the department meets its legal obligation to issue findings on every allegation.

Hanau told the Union-Tribune that input from residents is “critical” to the audit.

“We plan to conduct additional public outreach during the audit, and residents who want to share their perspectives with us can also contact us at cityauditor@sandiego.gov,” he said.

This will be the third city audit of the San Diego Police Department in recent years.

In 2022, the auditor found that up to 40% of officers failed to activate their body-worn cameras on time or at all, echoing concerns raised by the CPP, which cited “a consistent increase” in the number of officers failing to activate their body-worn cameras in a 2021 memo.

Auditors recommended that the department require officers to record all dispatched calls, not just enforcement incidents, and clarify when recording can stop. Supervisors should review body-worn camera videos to ensure compliance, auditors said, and that officers turned their cameras on and off at appropriate times.

According to the report, police officials agreed to try to implement all the recommendations.

In 2024, auditors examined the department’s reliance on overtime and found the department had exceeded its overtime budget in 10 of the previous 11 fiscal years. The report warned that excessive overtime could cause officer fatigue and create safety risks. It recommended limits to overtime and rest requirements.

Then-Police Chief David Nisleit told auditors he would have the department’s Research, Analysis and Planning Unit assess the recommendations. A response is expected within the next couple of months.

In June, the CPP sent an initial 14 recommendations to the police department based on Threet’s review. In an August memo to the commission, Police Chief Scott Wahl agreed with most of the recommendations.

Wahl wrote that the department would revise its policy to limit informal resolutions to less-serious complaints. He also agreed that Internal Affairs investigators should conduct open-ended interviews, make every effort to interview complainants and clarify discrepancies in witness statements. These expectations, he wrote, would be reflected in updated policies and training materials.

However, Wahl declined to implement a recommendation allowing complainants to request a different supervisor when filing a complaint. He said it “could result in some complainants ‘supervisor shopping’” and would be difficult to accommodate consistently due to staffing constraints.

He also rejected a proposal to require specialized training for investigators working with complainants who may have mental health issues. Wahl wrote that officers already receive “significant training” in this area.