INTERNAL AFFAIRS
Managing Citizen Complaints & Employee Discipline

Length of Seminar: 3 Days
Instructors: Lou Reiter  

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

Introduction: Outline of the program … current state of misconduct potential in law enforcement around the country … essential elements of a reasonable Internal Affairs or Professional Standards system … common complaints about police misconduct systems.

Pending challenges for police agencies: External review or oversight … what is it and what it isn’t … what causes communities to react … forms of external review currently being used … common elements and problems of up and running external review bodies … the future of police external review … new Federal legislation which can get outsiders inside your agency.

Foundation for the system: Importance of firm definitions of what constitutes a complaint and what is misconduct … peculiarities of Conduct Unbecoming allegations.

Gateway to the system: Issues in complaint acceptance … common complaints of public complainant perceived hindrances, hurdles and forms of intimidation … various complaint forms and public notice … successful techniques for complaint acceptance … necessity for a preliminary investigation … supervising and monitoring the process … a viable option for our most common type of complaint.

Administrative issues: Maintenance of files … issues in purging of investigations … confidentiality of records.

Investigative control measures: Standards of care … critical points which affect investigations … when to call in another agency … importance of planning your investigation … evaluating the complaint … organizing your investigation … why you may need to learn current standards … use of a standard case folder system … supervisory control methods for administrative investigations … administrative searches … chemical testing during your investigations … use of polygraph and other tools.

Pro-active administrative enforcement of misconduct: What it is and how to do it … you may being doing it and just don’t know it.

Administrative interviews: Steps before you interview anyone … the necessity to do detailed planning before you act … issues of tape recording … general interview techniques … handling potential problems during interviews … dealing with the accused employee … living successfully under an Officer’s Bill of Rights … understanding and working within Garrity and compelled statements … successful interviews even in the presence of victim and employee representatives.

Code of silence: Is it real and should we acknowledge it … dealing with it in a reasonable manner.

Adjudication: Administrative insight as a foundation for your decisions … rationalizing your adjudication statistics … to publish or not.

Discipline: Creating reasonable and defensible employee discipline … formalize the burden of proof your agency will use …build for an external appeal …where discipline charges can come from …using values as a foundation for organizational performance … what the pre-disciplinary hearing is and isn’t …most common defenses to employee discipline …how to handle resignations and retirements in lieu of disciplinary action …developing a contract in lieu of discipline.

Early warning systems: Why such a system is important …precursors which should alert supervisors to potential problem employees … minimal criteria for such a system … examples of up and running systems … benefits and detriments of an early warning system.

Use of force: Current supervisory and liability issues in the use of force … reporting use of force incidents, making them professional and scientific … importance of a graphic force matrix … why and how a use of force report can help your agency … the role of Internal Affairs in the use of force reporting system.

Critical incidents-special considerations: The current legal dichotomy in police use of force and how it might adversely affect law enforcement in the long run … what is a critical incident … four different types of investigations involved in each incident … possible investigative methods … issues to consider when you call in an outside agency ..role of the lead investigator … control of “need to know” persons … dealing with the media … dealing with the involved employees …handling the issue of guns involved in critical incidents … practical and reasonable use of photographic and video evidence …importance of ballistics analysis … role of Internal Affairs … critical incident review techniques.

Emergency provisions: Issues which might give rise to the necessity for using these provisions … essential supervisory tools you need to have in place before you need them … dealing with intoxicated employees … viable options your agency should have available … special considerations when using psychological services.