To promote public confidence and to protect officers from being victimized, a police accountability system must implement the checks and balances that were designed to avoid unjust results in personnel matters, as well as those best practices that are followed in every investigation that may have serious consequences. This interactive class will examine the entire spectrum of conducting internal affairs investigations in the context of police accountability principles—including from the perspectives of the officer who is a subject of a complaint, the union delegate, the officer’s attorney, the internal affairs investigator, the reviewing official, the deciding official, and the government oversight authorities who are responsible for validating that the disposition is evidence-based and fair-minded.
At the conclusion of class, it is expected that participants will have an understanding of the best practices in conducting internal investigations (from the standpoints of the officer, the officer’s advocate or representative, as well as the investigator, the reviewer, the deciding official, and the oversight official), and the best frameworks and approaches for obtaining fair dispositions of internal investigations. In addition, the participants will understand the earmarks of (and solutions to) management practices that may inadvertently—or, in the worst cases, purposefully—result in unjustified adverse dispositions of internal affairs complaints.
Course instructor Michael Cunniff, Esq. is an experienced lawyer in critical incidents involving law enforcement uses of deadly force, internal affairs matters, and the defense of civil rights cases brought against public officials.
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