Office of Independent Review

The Mission of the OIR

“The mission of the Office of Independent Review (OIR) is to strengthen the response of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department to its critical incidents and allegations of officer misconduct, and to increase the public’s confidence in that response, by providing full-time civilian oversight.”

OIR's Core Principles

The OIR model of civilian oversight has several core principles:

Independence

The Executive Director and other professional staff members of the OIR are independent contractors and are not employees of the County or part of the OCSD chain of command. This promotes the objective of OIR’s findings and recommendations.

Integration into OCSD’s own review process

Rather than conducting its own investigations, OIR monitors and contributes to OCSD’s existing protocols.

Access

OIR personnel respond in person to critical incidents, consult regularly with OCSD decision-makers, and have the unfettered ability to review OCSD operations, files, and records.

Transparency

OIR serves as a conduit between the public and OCSD. It seeks to represent the public’s interest and perspectives when monitoring the Department’s activities, and provides reports to heighten public awareness and understanding.