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Internal Affairs, Managing Citizen Complaints
& Employee Discipline
Length of Seminar:
3 Days
Instructor: Lou Reiter
Course Overview:
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.
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