Richmond police review commission welcomes interim investigator to tackle case backlog

The Richmond Community Police Review Commission introduced its new interim investigator Wednesday evening, bringing on a retired police chief and his firm to begin clearing a backlog of more than two dozen unresolved misconduct complaints against Richmond police officers.

Bill Whalen, a retired police chief who now runs Bill Whalen and Associates, appeared virtually before the commission to discuss his firm’s contract to investigate a number of police misconduct complaints. The city approved a $50,000 contract with Whalen’s firm in May to handle cases that had accumulated since the previous investigator’s resignation in September 2024.

“There is a considerable caseload here with your city that needs to get worked through,” Whalen told commissioners. “It’s more or less an all hands on deck kind of thing, from our standpoint, to help you with clearing out your backlog of cases.”

However, several commissioners and public speakers expressed surprise that Whalen operates a firm of multiple investigators rather than working alone. Commissioner Oscar Garcia noted that the interviews were conducted with Whalen individually, raising questions about oversight of other investigators’ work.

“If you’re not involved at all, that would concern me,” Garcia said.

Whalen assured the commissioners that he would maintain final reviewing authority over all investigations and planned to present the findings alongside the individual investigators who conducted each case. He said his firm includes four investigators, all with law enforcement backgrounds, including two who have gone on to roles in city government.

“The goal will be that I’m presenting along with the investigator that did the investigation,” Whalen said. “I would do you a disservice if I was in here trying to represent what the investigator was thinking at the time.”

Ben Therriault, president of the Richmond Police Officers Association, expressed surprise at learning the investigative contract involved more than just a single individual.

“I was a little perplexed. I didn’t realize it was a group of people or a firm,” Therriault said. “I’m happy to have you, Chief, and I’m glad you’ll be able to work on the backlog of these cases. "Maybe I missed the qualifications of the other folks, but my main concern is making sure they have a full understanding of our laws and things of that nature in California, and not just out-of-state experience.”

The commission is grappling with a significant backlog that has grown since the previous investigator’s departure. According to city documents, nine complaints were pending investigation when the Confidential Investigative Appeals Officer resigned in September 2024, and 17 additional complaints have been filed since then.

Commission Chair Carmin Martinez said she counted 25 cases in the current complaint log – although one may have been logged twice, she said. The commission has also lost track of recent complaints after losing a staff member who maintained the database of complaints.

“We used to have a staff person who was updating a complaint log, but we lost him, and so any complaints in the last month have not been added,” said Commissioner Carol Hegstrom. She noted that at least one new case was filed within the past few days.

Martinez reported that four cases face statute of limitations deadlines, adding urgency to the investigation process.

Whalen, who retired after 32 years in law enforcement and started his firm in 2021, said he would prioritize cases based on severity, community impact, and potential disciplinary consequences. He expects to begin work before the end of July once the contract is fully executed.

The commission requested clarification from the city’s Human Resources department about the hiring process for contractual investigators to ensure transparency in future selections.

“As soon as we get the contract executed, the chair, myself, and the city attorney are going to look at a date to sit down and triage the cases and then get them assigned,” Whalen said. “I have a feeling that there will be a few cases that everybody can agree upon that need to get investigated yesterday. So that will be easy. We’ll look at those right away, even before perhaps we sit down and roll our sleeves up and look at the rest of them.”

The Community Police Review Commission investigates complaints of alleged police misconduct involving serious bodily injury, unreasonable force, discrimination, sexual harassment, and sexual assault by Richmond police officers.

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