In the recently released Stanislaus County Civil Grand Jury report, some Oakdale Police Department officers were found to be out of compliance for mandated Domestic Violence training requirements.

Oakdale Police Chief Jerry Ramar released a statement regarding the findings, saying, “OPD is committed to adhering to POST training requirements and State mandated training to ensure the safety and well-being of our community and our officers, and we work continuously to improve our policies and procedures to better serve the needs of our community.”

The 19-member Civil Grand Jury represents a wide variety of experience, education and expertise that ensures integrity to the taxpayers about the state of their government. The 12-month long process gives the Civil Grand Jury information to provide a year-ending report.

Ramar stated OPD cooperated fully with the Grand Jury inquiry and investigation, which involved a domestic violence incident on an unspecified date.

According to the report, SCCGJ (Stanislaus County Civil Grand Jury) received a complaint submitted by an Oakdale resident regarding a domestic violence call handled poorly due to lack of training.

In its report, the SCCGJ found that some officers were out of compliance with mandated Domestic Violence training during the latter half of 2021. The review also found that on Jan. 1, some officers were out of compliance with Continuing Professional Training (CPT) and Perishable Skills Training (PST).

During the course of the investigation, SCCGJ also found that COVID-19 restrictions nor budgetary limitations were at fault for the oversight.

The consequence of continued non-compliance can be the agency’s removal from POST (Peace Officer Standards and Training) programs, but it’s generally the agency’s responsibility to rectify the oversight. Additionally, POST has no record of a letter of concern sent to OPD regarding any one particular officer.

However, the SCCGJ warned, “…if an officer is out of compliance with training and the officer and the agency are sued, that lack of training could be introduced as evidence against the officer and the agency in the suit.”

According to the official SCCGJ findings, three of OPD’s patrol officers were lacking in mandated CPT and PSP training once the 2019-2020 cycle ended. One of the officers did not undergo any of this training during that cycle.

Another missed eight of the 24 hours and the other 16 of the 24 hours of required training.

Ramar said the OPD Management Team and Training Unit “agreed that officers enrolled in ongoing training were better equipped” with prevailing practices and skills, enabling them to respond to the job’s challenges and perform their duties proficiently.

“OPD is committed to adhering to POST training requirements and State-mandated training to ensure the safety and well-being of our community and our officers,” Ramar said. “We work continuously to improve our policies and procedures to better serve the needs of our community. Currently, all OPD peace officers working in patrol are up to date with training requirements.”

Ramar noted that officers on workers’ compensation or light duty status were not able to attend training. The Chief also stated he will provide a response to the Grand Jury report at the Aug. 21 Oakdale City Council meeting at City Hall.