Marshall Kine, chief attorney at the Department of Police Accountability (DPA), presented the DPA’s fourth-quarter and full-year 2024 case statistics to the Sheriff’s Department Oversight Board on Feb. 7 and summarized DPA support for the Office of Inspector General (OSIG).

Kine said DPA’s caseload has increased year over year through 2024 and that case openings have outpaced closures, leaving the office with the highest pending caseload in the past three years. He said DPA has not missed its statutory timelines and can refer cases back to the sheriff’s office under the letter of agreement if resource constraints prevent timely completion.

Kine presented quarterly and annual data showing that the largest category of allegations remains misconduct, with use of excessive force the most common single allegation category. He said the majority of force allegations in 2024 were exonerated and that only one excessive-force allegation was sustained; overall DPA sustained nine allegations in 2024, most commonly for failures of documentation such as incomplete incident reports, missing entries in use-of-force logs or failed body-worn-camera activation.

Kine said DPA has discussed digitizing the use-of-force log with the sheriff’s office and is optimistic about improvements in documentation; he also noted that the sheriff’s office lacks funding to outfit every deputy with body-worn cameras, and DPA has been measured in enforcement while the system matures.

Board members asked about referral processes, repeat-offender tracking for deputies and public-facing discipline guidance. Kine said complaints and grievances are forwarded to the sheriff’s internal affairs unit and, when appropriate, referred to DPA. He said DPA has a draft discipline-guidelines project under discussion with the sheriff’s office to standardize discipline and improve transparency, and that certain confidentiality rules limit the specificity DPA can publish about individual investigations (citing Penal Code section 832.7 for confidentiality of personnel records).

Nicole Armstrong, COO at DPA, earlier presented the final OSIG budget proposal. Armstrong said OSIG has 13 authorized FTEs on paper but only two funded positions at present and that constrained funding forces continued reliance on DPA support. The board moved to approve the OSIG budget for fiscal years 2025–27; the motion passed 5–0.

Why it matters: The DPA presentation documented a growing complaint caseload, identified documentation and body-camera activation as recurring deficiencies, and highlighted a structural staffing shortfall at the OSIG that the board said it will press in upcoming budget advocacy.

Ending: Board members requested follow-up on possible public-facing discipline guidelines, repeat-offender data reporting that complies with confidentiality law, and more detailed reporting templates to permit year-to-year comparisons.