Internal Affairs Police

Internal Affairs Procedures for Handling Investigations

All professional organizations have an ethical standard that they are required to comply with, but some occupations have a much greater code due to the reliance of the public trust. Certain medical professionals (doctors and nurses) can be held to what seems a stricter standard because lives are at stake, but they do not have stricter standards than law enforcement professionals. Whether the individual enforces the laws at a federal, state or local level, it is important that there be an exacting code of conduct, and a means of evaluating and disciplining improper actions. This paper examines the Florida state procedures with regard to internal affairs in the areas of investigation, determining findings, discipline and decertification.

The Investigation

The first step in the internal affairs process requires that a citizen or another officer makes a complaint against a police officer (Caldero & Crank, 2011, 303). The complaint is sent to an internal affairs office which "may be only a single officer in a small organization, or may be a unit comprised of a command staff and subordinates in a larger organization" (Caldero & Crank, 2011, 303). These units are much different than those portrayed in the media as the hated cops who enjoy disciplining their fellow officers. These units are seen as a necessary piece of the entire machine because when a complaint is made law enforcement officials know there has to be some type of investigation to support the officers of the force.

In an internal affairs investigation, there are certain steps that must be taken in order to determine whether the complaint is justified or not. According to Caldero and Crank (2011, 303) this can be simplified to five steps which are:

1. Review the allegation and determine what laws or departmental standards were broken.

2. Interview witness. Interview complainant.

3. Collect evidence, including medical reports and police reports.

4. Acquire background information on the complainant, such as criminal history.

5. Interview all departmental members who may be involved.

The investigators try to cover every possible angle that could be related to the complaint...

Caldero and Crank (2011, 303) note that there are two different types of internal affairs divisions within police departments that conduct different types of investigations. Police departments can either have a reactionary internal affairs division or one that is proactive. The reactionary division sees its mission as adversarial to the rest of the police unit. The investigating officers wait for a complaint, but then they will sometimes use subterfuge to determine if a particular officer is guilty of unethical behavior. "Such units are often strongly resented by officers because of the climate of mistrust they create in the organization" (Caldero & Crank, 2011, 303).
The proactive unit is one that uses preventive measures to ensure that officers know the standards of the department, what ethics are expected of them and what unethical behavior looks like. This training is meant to keep officers aware of their behaviors at all times and help them to determine whether what they are doing is ethical or unethical. The belief is that if an internal affairs division uses this tactic there will be fewer complaints and investigations of police officers.

Regardless the type of departmental protocol for investigations, there are only a finite number of outcomes that can be reached. According to the Miami Police Department (2012), there can be five different outcomes from an internal affairs investigation:

1. Cleared - The investigation…shows that the alleged complaint(s) did not occur…did not constitute any violation of policy, orders, or laws and the employee(s) are exonerated…or their action(s) are justified.

2. Inconclusive - The investigation cannot…show that the alleged complaint(s) occurred…[or] did not occur.

3. Substantiated -- The…alleged complaint(s) constitute violations of policy, orders and/or law.

4. Unsupported - An investigation cannot proceed due to insufficient information and/or the…