Auditor praises BART Police Department progress on NOBLE recommendations

Independent auditor retired Police Chief Patrick Oliver today presented a positive assessment of BART’s Police Department (PD) at a special Board of Directors meeting. The audit was conducted from July to September and evaluated the progress the PD has made in implementing 55 recommendations the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement (NOBLE) Executives made three years ago after it conducted a comprehensive review of the PD.
 "This audit serves as a barometer of our organizational change efforts—and it states BART PD has made significant and substantial progress since the original 2009 NOBLE Management Audit," BART Police Chief Kenton Rainey said.  “Not only did we adopt a strategic direction, we reorganized the department, implemented stronger community policing initiatives, updated our policies and procedures and enhanced training of our officers.” Chief Rainey had asked Chief Oliver and his team to do an assessment on the progress of the following key recommendations made from the original NOBLE audit:
 
1. Organizational Statements 
2. Community Engagement 
3. Training 
4. Patrol Priorities 
5. Personnel Selection 
6. Employee Performance Standards
7. Use of Force 
8. Biased based policing 
9. Internal Affairs 
10. Discipline 

 
“There is still work to be done on the department’s journey to professional excellence,” Oliver said.  “However, this audit shows BART PD has provided extensive evidence that is it is a good agency working toward becoming a great one.”
Read the BART PD Performance Management Audit 

The original NOBLE Audit Report was completed in April 2010 after an independent review was initiated in 2009. It included recommendations based on a comprehensive assessment of BART Police Department policies and tactics from recruitment, hiring and training to use of force and investigatory practices.  Read the original report in its entirety.