Committee accepts 33 of 34 recommendations proposed in KPD Audit

The Operations Review Committee accepted today all but one of the recommendations contained in the recently unveiled audit of the Kyle Police Department and, in the process, enthusiastically endorsed the methodology the auditors employed to arrive at their conclusions.

Of the 34 recommendations the audit suggested, the only one rejected was one to "begin utilizing the victim services coordinator to conduct welfare checks during normal business hours."

Assistant City Manager James Earp told the other committee members that he, City Manager Scott Sellers and Police Chief Jeff Barnett had reviewed the audit and that they agreed they heartily endorsed the audit’s recommendations with the possible exception of the one involving the victim services coordinator. He said he understood the reason for the recommendation was to relieve patrol from having to perform these functions.

"But, after thinking it through, I’m not sure I’m real comfortable with it," Earp said. "One, she doesn’t have a gun. Two, she can’t make entry if she shows up on the scene and realizes there’s an emergency on-going. Those are probably the two biggest things because not all welfare checks are routine. With the exception of that one, we’re completely on board with this."

"I strongly recommend not implementing that one," KPD Capt. Pedro Hernandez said.

Readers can learn more about the current responsibilities of the victim services coordinator here.

Police Association President Sgt. Tim Griffith said he had some concerns about the data the auditing firm used to reach some its conclusions, but added he completely agreed with the methodology used to arrive at those results and believed the department should embrace that methodology in the future when computing certain staffing levels.

Most of the recommendations have budget implications and, as a result, probably won’t begin to be implemented until the next budget cycle. It is expected the city manager will incorporate many, if not all, the audit’s recommendations in his next proposed budget which is expected to be made public the last week of July or the first week of August 2018.

Readers can find a summary as well as a link to the draft of the audit here.