DEPARTMENT: Police Department
DEPARTMENT HEAD: William P. McManus, Chief of Police
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: Citywide
SUBJECT:
Special Victims Unit (SVU) Independent Review Update
SUMMARY:
A briefing and update on the April 2018 Independent Review of the Special Victims Unit.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
In November 2017, an independent review of the Special Victims Unit, and all cases assigned to it, was coordinated by the City Attorney's Office. The review was completed by Lisa Tatum, former President of the State Bar of Texas and a former Bexar County Assistant Criminal District Attorney, with assistance from a team of eight attorneys which included five former Assistant Criminal District Attorneys. The report of this review was completed on April 23, 2018. While the review concluded that there was "no discernible pattern or practice" of mishandling cases, a number of recommendations were made to enhance the investigative process which has since been implemented by the San Antonio Police Department.
Scope
The independent review consisted of a review of over 10,000 SVU felony cases and 1,500 closed SVU misdemeanor cases from 2014 to 2017 as well as certain active SVU cases under investigation and the Unit's Standard Operating Procedures. The purpose of the review was to:
* Determine the extent of case mishandling within the SVU
* Determine if any operational or process issues exist within the SVU
* Conduct an independent review of SVU cases for the period of 2014 to 2017
* Identify improvements to include SOP reviews, technology, caseload and span of control analysis
In addition to the case review, the team also conducted interviews with individuals that raised concerns with case handling within the SVU, detectives assigned to the Unit and other key personnel in order to gain insight into operations within SVU and identify potential recommendations.
Fin...
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