In the fall of 2022, as Nicole McKay was taking over the role as director of the City of Boise’s Office of Police Accountability, she was tasked with righting a pretty large ship.
At the time, the Boise Police Department was still mired in controversy surrounding leadership, there was a significant backlog of citizen concerns and complaints, and her department was understaffed. That was then.
“We have a dynamic team,” said McKay. “We’re working hard towards getting into the work that we had hoped to get to.”
In a wide-ranging interview with Boise State Public Radio's George Prentice, McKay talked about greater transparency and OPA’s redesigned website.
“Reports were called “critical incidents” up until the time I took over,” said McKay. “We now call them ‘use of deadly force’ reports. We have a universal naming convention and are organized by date of the incident and include the name of the involved individual. So, finding a particular report should be much easier.”
In the conversation, McKay also talked about a concern over police officers shouting over one another during critical incidents, plus a growing emphasis on “slowing things down” when there’s a standoff with an individual in mental crisis.
“We know that if things slow down, we have a greater chance for a positive outcome.”
You can hear the full conversation by clicking the play button above.
Find reporter George Prentice @georgepren
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