Internal Affairs
Internal Affairs Investigations
Mitchell Carrillo
Student ID# 4069057
American Military University
Professor John F. Hein
05/14/10
Every police department should be open for review and strictly accountable for their officer’s conduct while serving the community. Police employees are expected to maintain themselves in a manner consistent with a standard of professionalism necessary to ensure safety in the community. All citizens have a right, in good faith, to report a police officer’s misconduct. In my essay, I will present the reasons and purpose for internal affairs investigations. I will discuss the standards for internal affairs investigations in the State of California and how the Police Officer’s Bill of Rights was enacted to protect officers during the internal affairs process. I will discuss how Miranda and Lybarger plays a critical role in protecting officers from self incrimination during the administrative investigation. Lastly, I will share my beliefs on how officers are treated compared to citizens during interrogations. The purpose of the complaint policy is to establish a procedure to investigate complaints of poor service or misconduct against members of a police department. The internal affairs investigation must be thorough and impartial in order to protect the rights of the police officer and maintain the department’s high level of integrity and efficiency. Proper use of this procedure should allow for the identification of facts, clarification of issues, and identification of procedural deficiencies. The procedure should also safeguard the rights of the police officer. A properly conducted internal affairs investigation should allow the department to determine real or potential causes of problems relating to human relations and remedy identified deficiencies, insure proper corrective action is taken when appropriate, and to protect personnel from unwarranted criticism when they perform their respective duties in an approved
Mitchell Carrillo
Student ID# 4069057
American Military University
Professor John F. Hein
05/14/10
Every police department should be open for review and strictly accountable for their officer’s conduct while serving the community. Police employees are expected to maintain themselves in a manner consistent with a standard of professionalism necessary to ensure safety in the community. All citizens have a right, in good faith, to report a police officer’s misconduct. In my essay, I will present the reasons and purpose for internal affairs investigations. I will discuss the standards for internal affairs investigations in the State of California and how the Police Officer’s Bill of Rights was enacted to protect officers during the internal affairs process. I will discuss how Miranda and Lybarger plays a critical role in protecting officers from self incrimination during the administrative investigation. Lastly, I will share my beliefs on how officers are treated compared to citizens during interrogations. The purpose of the complaint policy is to establish a procedure to investigate complaints of poor service or misconduct against members of a police department. The internal affairs investigation must be thorough and impartial in order to protect the rights of the police officer and maintain the department’s high level of integrity and efficiency. Proper use of this procedure should allow for the identification of facts, clarification of issues, and identification of procedural deficiencies. The procedure should also safeguard the rights of the police officer. A properly conducted internal affairs investigation should allow the department to determine real or potential causes of problems relating to human relations and remedy identified deficiencies, insure proper corrective action is taken when appropriate, and to protect personnel from unwarranted criticism when they perform their respective duties in an approved
Bibliography: Bobbit, Pinckard & Fields. (2010) Representing Law Enforcement Since 1984. Retrieved May 10, 2010, from http://www.Coplaw.org/html/faq.htm#admon Joseph, B around officers. The Orange County Register. Retrieved May 8, 2010, from http://www.ocregister.com/news/-225344--.html Lybarger v. City of Los Angeles (1985) 40 Cal. 3d 822, 221 Cal. Rptr. 529; 710 P.2d 329 May 10, 2010, from http://www.porac.org/ Office of the Chief of Police, AG Compliance Task Force, Department Organization, Internal Affairs, Personnel & Training. Riverside California (2010) Official California Legislative Information. (2009). Retrieved May 10, 2010, from http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/.html/pen_table_of_contents.html