Building Trust Between the Police and the Citizens They Serve
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U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services Building Trust Between the Police and the Citizens They Serve INTEGRITY TRUST COMMUNITY HONOR An Internal Affairs Promising Practices Guide for Local Law Enforcement Building Trust Between the Police and the Citizens They Serve: An Internal Affairs Promising Practices Guide for Local Law Enforcement This project was supported by Cooperative Agreement Number 2007-CK-WX-K011 awarded by the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions contained herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the U.S. Department of Justice. References to specific agencies, companies, products, or services should not be considered an endorsement by the authors or the U.S. Department of Justice. Rather, the references are illustrations to supplement discussion of the issues. Contents Acknowledgments ..................................................................................... 1 Office of Community Oriented Policing Services ..................................... 1 International Association of Chiefs of Police .......................................... 2 Executive Summary .................................................................................. 3 Introduction ............................................................................................ 5 Community Trust and Police Integrity ......................................................... 7 Internal Strategies for Building Community Trust ................................... 8 External Strategies for Building Community Trust ................................ 13 Internal Affairs as an Effective Tool for Building Trust ................................ 17 The Structure of Internal Affairs ...................................................... 18 The Complaint Process ................................................................... 20 The Investigation ............................................................................ 23 The Disposition .............................................................................. 26 Addressing Problem Behavior ......................................................... 27 Internal Affairs Files and Confidentiality ............................................. 30 Accountability Through Internal Affairs ..................................................... 31 Citizen Review ................................................................................ 31 Complaint Tracking ......................................................................... 32 The Local Government’s Role in Building Community Trust ......................... 33 Conclusion ............................................................................................. 37 References ............................................................................................ 39 Glossary ............................................................................................... 41 Contents | i Appendixes............................................................................................. 47 Appendix A: Sample Recruitment Plan .............................................. 48 Appendix B: Sample Performance Improvement Policy, Procedure, and Plan ........................................................................................ 51 Appendix C: Sample Community Surveys ........................................... 57 Appendix D: Sample Memorandum of Understanding .......................... 64 Appendix E: CALEA Standards for Law Enforcement Agencies—Chapter 52 on Internal Affairs ...................................................................... 67 Appendix F: IACP Concepts and Issues Paper and Model Policy—Investiga- tion of Employee Misconduct ....................................................... 80 Appendix G: Sample Officer Notification Form .................................. 112 Appendix H: Funding Sources for Training and Software on Ethics and In- ternal Affairs .......................................................................... 113 Appendix I: Methodology .............................................................. 114 ii | Building Trust Between the Police and the Citizens They Serve Acknowledgments The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) project staff acknowledge the IACP Internal Affairs Advisory Committee and Roundtable participants for their dedication and tireless efforts toward the completion of this document. These talented individuals advised the project on its design and implementation. We also thank IACP leadership, project staff, and the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, whose support made this document possible. In addition, we acknowledge the following individuals for their contributions to this guide. Deputy Commissioner John Brown Lieutenant Randy Rider Pennsylvania State Police Douglassville Police Department Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Douglassville, Georgia Chief Christopher Casey (Ret.) Chief Rick TerBorch (Ret.) Lexington Police Department Arroyo Grande Police Department Lexington, Massachusetts Arroyo Grande, California Executive Director Sylvester Daughtry Chief Michael Walsh (Ret.) Commission on Accreditation for Law Town of Geddes Police Department Enforcement Agencies, Inc. Geddes, New York Fairfax, Virginia Chief R. Michael Worley (Ret.) Phil Lynn Meridian Police Department IACP – National Law Enforcement Meridian, Idaho Policy Center Alexandria, Virginia Office of Community Oriented Policing Services Without the support and enthusiasm of the dedicated leadership and staff at the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (the COPS Office), U.S. Department of Justice, this guide would not be possible. The IACP particularly thanks Senior Policy Analyst Albert Antony Pearsall III, who was our project monitor. He was actively involved throughout the evolution of this project and provided valuable ideas, guidance, and support. We also extend our thanks to COPS Office Contractors Judith E. Beres, for editing this report, and Nancy Carlsen, for the publication design. Acknowledgments | 1 International Association of Chiefs of Police Executive Staff Daniel Rosenblatt John Firman Executive Director IACP Research Center Director James McMahon Jerry Needle Deputy Executive Director IACP Programs and Research Director Project Staff Elaine Deck Eleni Trahilis Senior Program Manager Research Center Coordinator Dianne Beer-Maxwell Tamika Scott Project Manager Technical Assistance Coordinator Tracy Brown Sonia Kaur Lieutenant, Pennsylvania State Police Project Assistant Project Manager, IACP 2008 Fellow Danielle Menard Sabrina Tapp-Harper Project Assistant Major, Baltimore City Police Department IACP 2008 Fellow Susan Weinstein Contract Writer 2 | Building Trust Between the Police and the Citizens They Serve Executive Summary Building and maintaining community trust is the cornerstone of successful policing and law enforcement. The building and maintenance of trust takes a great deal of continuous effort. Unfortunately, the ethical work of thousands of local law enforcement officers is easily undone by the actions of one unethical officer. Often, the indictment of one seems like an indictment of all. Once misconduct occurs, the Internal Affairs function of the law enforcement agency becomes the primary method of reassuring the community that the police can and will aggressively address and resolve unethical behavior. In short, the integrity of the police will always dictate the level of community trust. Throughout 2008 and 2009, the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), supported by a grant from the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (the COPS Office), examined the community trust continuum, with a focus on the pivotal role of Internal Affairs in rebuilding community trust once misconduct occurs. Working with ethics and Internal Affairs experts from across the country, IACP staff studied promising practices in recruitment and hiring, policies and training, rewards and discipline, and, in particular, successful and transparent Internal Affairs investigations. This guide attempts to place Internal Affairs in its proper context—not as a stand- alone activity, but as one component of a systemic, agency-wide, professional standards effort. After discussion of some of the other components necessary in the community trust continuum—hiring, training, rewarding excellent performance—the guide focuses on building an effective Internal Affairs approach for any size or type of agency. The guidelines for the Internal Affairs function address every aspect, from complaint processing to decision-making, discipline, notification, and community transparency. Looking at the Internal Affairs process from a citizen’s viewpoint, this guide presents information on how local law enforcement agencies can be accountable to their citizens by engaging them in any number of trust-building initiatives, including citizen input for Internal Affairs determinations and discipline. Citizen involvement models range from very informal mechanisms to formalized (sometimes mandated) citizen Internal Affairs review boards. Departments are urged to create connections with their citizens in a proactive fashion to prevent the development of tenuous relationships following high-profile misconduct. The final section of the guide addresses the critical relationship of the law enforcement leader and the governing body of the jurisdiction in trust-building