Recommended Best Practices
Recommendation 7.5 Create transparent, effective processes for conducting misconduct investigations.
When officers are accused of violating a department rule or policy, departments should investigate fairly, thoroughly, and in a timely manner. All departments are required to follow the employment laws in their own jurisdictions, but they should also incorporate the following components into their own accountability and disciplinary systems. Specifically, departments should:
Conduct timely investigations. Ideally, investigations should be completed within six months.[i]The New Orleans Police Department requires officers to initiate investigations no later than 14 days after they receive a complaint and to complete investigations no later than 60 days after the date of initiation.[ii]The Albuquerque Police Department requires administrative investigations to be completed within 90 days[iii]and all critical incident investigations to be completed within two months.[iv]If an investigation is not completed within the specified period, investigators must get approval for an extension from the internal affairs commander and department chief.[v]
Timeliness — and clear timelines — enhance justice and trust. They allow community members to see complaints resolved and, when appropriate, discipline applied on anticipated timeframes. Officers who are falsely accused, meanwhile, can take some comfort in the fact that their cases will be resolved by a certain date. Moreover, swift adjudication reduces the loss or destruction of evidence, as witnesses disappear or forget details, as physical items deteriorate, or as complainants change their minds or reverse course (e.g., when a sexual assault survivor decides to stop cooperating). Timely investigations can have a deterrent effect, too, as swift remedial measures improve behavior and deter future misconduct.
Departments with backlogged investigations should make plans to clear them, which can be done via outside counsel or mediation programs if permitted by law or union contract.[vi]At the same time, new investigations should be completed within stated timeframes; indeed placing new cases at the bottom of the list only perpetuates the problem). Department leaders should also set clear expectations (if not requirements) regarding the length of time that each investigatory phase should take.
Notify complainants. Department leaders should periodically notify complainants about the progress of investigations. They should send a letter when initiating investigations informing the complainant about the investigation process, its various phases and timelines, and the investigator’s name and contact information.[vii]They should also send a letter upon completion of the investigation explaining the outcome or, if the case is extended, explaining why.
Document evidence and information. To ward off claims of coaching or coercion, investigators should document all available evidence and information about alleged misconduct, including interviews with complainants, witnesses, and other affected individuals. They should also photograph scenes of the incident from witnesses’ points of view and document adjudication and disciplinary outcomes.
Develop transparent policies. Investigation and review processes should be clearly defined in departmental policy so community members and officers know what to expect and to ensure that investigations of the same type of misconduct are handled similarly, creating procedural justice. (For more detail, see Chapters 9 and 10.) Minor violations, like tardiness, may be appropriately handled at the precinct level. More serious violations, such as allegations of sexual harassment or theft, may require referral to an internal affairs bureau, adjudication by a full disciplinary board, or notification to the local prosecutor’s office.
Train investigators. Investigators should be trained to conduct thorough and impartial investigations; otherwise, departments run the risk of letting misconduct go unexamined and unaddressed. They should also be trained in implicit bias, which can result in the dismissal of a complainant’s account of the facts based race, gender, sexual orientation, or other characteristic.[viii](For more detail, see Chapter 2.) Cultural sensitivity training, meanwhile, enables investigators to interview people from marginalized communities, such as undocumented immigrants. (For more detail, see Chapter 11.)
[i]See, e.g., MCC §2-78-135, https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/city/depts/copa/general/COPAOrdinance.pdf, (requiring that investigations be completed within six months and notification to the Mayor, Superintendent, complainant, involved employee, and other officials, the reasons for the failure to complete the investigation).
[ii]The New Orleans Police Department requires that an investigation for alleged employee misconduct be initiated within 14 days of the supervisor receiving the complaint and completed within 60 days of the initiation of the investigation. New Orleans Police Dep’t Manual, Ch. 52.1.1, Misconduct Complaint Intake and Investigation 16:83, 19:98 (March 18, 2018), https://www.nola.gov/getattachment/NOPD/Policies/Chapter-52-1-1-Misconduct-Intake-and-Complaint-Investigation-EFFECTIVE-3-18-18.pdf. A 60-day extension may be granted by the City Civil Service Commission.
[iii]Albuquerque Police Dep’t Admin. Orders, Review of Completed Administrative Investigation Cases 4 (June 6, 2016), http://documents.cabq.gov/police/standard-operating-procedures/3-44-review-of-completed-administrative-investigation-cases.pdf.
[iv]Albuquerque Police Dep’t Prof’l Accountability Bureau Orders, 7-2 Critical Incident Review Team (CIRT) 21 (June 7, 2016), http://documents.cabq.gov/police/standard-operating-procedures/7-02-critical-incident-review-team-cirt.pdf.
[v]Albuquerque Police Dep’t Prof’l Accountability Bureau Orders, 7-2 Critical Incident Review Team (CIRT) 21 (June 7, 2016), http://documents.cabq.gov/police/standard-operating-procedures/7-02-critical-incident-review-team-cirt.pdf.
[vi]See, e.g., Interim Chief Administrator Patricia Banks, Chicago Civilian Office of Police Accountability, COPA Looking ahead to 2018 (Dec. 29, 2017), https://www.chicagocopa.org/copa-looking-ahead-to-2018/.
[vii]See, e.g., New Orleans Police Dep’t Operations Manual, Ch. 52.1.1 Misconduct Complaint Intake and Investigation, 7, 10, https://www.nola.gov/getattachment/NOPD/Policies/Chapter-52-1-1-Misconduct-Intake-and-Complaint-Investigation-EFFECTIVE-3-18-18.pdf.
[viii]For example, gender bias may result in less robust investigations of sexual assault or domestic violence allegations. See U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Identifying and Preventing Gender Bias in Law Enforcement Response to Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence, at 3 https://www.justice.gov/opa/file/799366/download.