Linking Law Enforcement Internal Affairs Practices and Community Trust Building Documenting Past Successes and Failures, and Setting Goals for the Future IACP Membership Survey Results Tracy Brown Eleni Trahilis Sonia Kaur 10/02/08
Table of Contents Introduction... 3 Purpose... 3 Methodology... 3 Project Team Review of Survey... 3 General Agency Description... 4 Reception of Complaints... 7 Agency IA Investigation Procedures... 13 Community Input into the IA Process... 17 Agency IA Training Procedures... 21 Survey Summary... 24 Recommendations... 24 2
Introduction The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) have partnered to conduct a comprehensive national project on how law enforcement agencies conduct Internal Affairs (IA). Research has been conducted by the IACP s IA project team to fully understand current IA issues that various law enforcement agencies are facing. Purpose The goal of the survey was to identify trends and common procedures among larger, midsized, and smaller agencies during an IA investigation. The survey focused on the following five IA components and their importance in respect to the agency s type and size. General agency information Reception of agency complaint information Agency IA investigation procedures Community Input into the IA process Agency IA training procedures Methodology A survey was developed to review IA practices that are conducted by law enforcement agencies all over the United States. The survey was sent to 9,000 active IACP members in April of 2008. The project team used two IACP databases to conduct this survey- IACP members database and smaller agency database. The prerequisites for taking part in the survey were as follows: Individual must be an active IACP member Have a particular agency code indicating the individual was an agency head Individual must have indicated a willingness to receive emails from the IACP Project Team Review of Survey An initial email invitation was sent to IACP active members on Thursday, May 1, 2008 and one email reminder was sent on Tuesday, June 10, 2008. The survey was closed on Friday, June 13, 2008 and 1705 Internet survey responses were obtained from state and local law enforcement leaders. The overall response rate to the survey was 18.9%. Out of the total 1705 responses, 1462 respondents responded to all survey questions for an 85.7% survey completion rate. Refer to Appendix A for questions posed by survey. Survey responses were grouped in three classifications based on agency size and also in six subcategories according to number of sworn officers within the agency. Refer to figures 1 and 2 for responses according to agency classification by size. 3
Response Group classifications Group Size Responses Percentage Smaller Agency 1 to 99 1311 77.7% Midsize Agency 100 to 499 284 16.8% Large Agency 500 + 91 5.4% Total 1686 99.9% Figure 1 Responses based on numbers of sworn employees Group Size Responses Percentage < 25 575 34.1% 25 to 49 422 25.0% 50 to 99 314 18.6% 100 to 499 284 16.8% 500 to 999 39 2.3% 1000 + 52 3.1% General Agency Description Total 1686 99.9% Figure 2 In this category, a total of 5 questions were asked. The survey questions and response categories were as follows: 1. What is your rank/title? Figure 3 shows responses according to question #, rank. Members who responded to the survey, whose title was not listed, indicated their rank/title in the other response block. They were: o Deputy Chief o Assistant Chief o Corporal o Civilian director o Instructor o Inspector General o Lieutenant Colonel o Detective o Assistant Sheriff 4
Rank/Title Responses Responses Total Total 1694 Other Other 108 Officer Officer 11 Sergeant Sergeant 95 Lieutenant Lieutenant 181 Captain Captain 128 Major Major 29 Commander Commander 56 Chief Chief 1086 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 Figure 3 2. Please describe your department Figure 4 shows the percentage and type of agencies responding to question # 2. Members were given a total of nine possible responses: o Federal o State o Local o County o Sheriff o Tribal o University/College o Railroad o Other % Description of Agency Responses 100.0% 90.0% 87.1% 80.0% 70.0% 60.0% 50.0% 40.0% 30.0% 20.0% Federal State Local County Sheriff Tribal University/College Railroad Other 10.0% 0.0% 0.7% 2.4% 1.5% 2.3% 0.9% Percentage 3.3% 0.1% 1.6% 5
Figure 4 Below are responses received in the other category for question #2 stated above? o Airport Police o Park Police o School Police o Hospital Police o Juvenile Probation o Port Authority Police 3. How many sworn personnel work in your department? Members were asked to indicate the numbers of sworn officers working in their departments. Responses ranged from 1 to 500 or more officers. Figure 5 indicates the percentage per agency size. Sworn Officers per Agency Size Sworn Personnel 1000 plus 3% 500-999 2% 100-499 17% < 25 34% 50-99 19% 25-49 25% Figure 5 Members were also asked to indicate the number of civilians employed by their departments. Responses ranged from 1 to 2500 persons. 6
4. Does your department have a policy on Internal Affairs? Respondents indicated that 91.8% of the departments have an IA Policy and 8.2% did not have an IA policy. 5. Does the policy specify o.the form in which a complaint should be made. o.who receives a complaint. o.a particular process for handling investigations. o.that all complaints are investigated. Figure 6 reflects the responses to the four sub questions asked of respondents regarding specifics to their agency s IA Policy. Reception of Complaints % Breakdown of IA Policy Area Yes No Do Not Know the form in which a complaint 93.4 % 6.5% 0.1% should be made? who receives a complaint? 97.1% 2.8% 0.1% a particular process for handling investigations? 96.3% 3.6% 0.1% that all complaints are investigated? 92.9% 6.8% 0.3% Figure 6 In this category, a total of 13 questions were asked of the IACP membership. The survey questions and responses follow: 1. What are the criteria for accepting a complaint? 78% of the respondents stated that there are no criteria for accepting complaints. 22% of respondents stated that complaints are not accepted if the criteria below are not met. The prerequisites were: a. Complaint must be in writing b. Complaint has to have a sworn affidavit c. Complaint must be signed d. Complaint must be taken by a supervisor e. Complainant must be sober f. Time limitation must not have expired g. Complaint can not be anonymous 7
2. What are the acceptable forms for making a complaint with your department? Respondents indicated that complaints were accepted by their department in the following forms listed in figure 7. Acceptable Complaint Reception Form of complaint accepted Response Percentage Response Count Written 97.5% 1558 Verbal 77.8% 1243 Web/E-mail 68.1% 1088 Phone 76.2% 1217 Mail 82.7% 1321 Other 12.1% 194 Figure 7 Other acceptable complaint forms indicated in the other category were: o By A Third Party o Anonymous o In Person o Through An Arrest o By Fax o Text Message 3. Does your agency accept anonymous complaints? Respondents indicated that 77.4 % of anonymous complaints are accepted while 22.6% indicated that anonymous complaints are not accepted. 4. What are the agency s IA complaint categories? o Excessive Force o Rudeness o Domestic Violence o Other 8
Figure 8 shows the percentage of responses received for question four stated above. Agency Complaint Category Type of Complaint Category 90 80 70 84.1 78.4 67.9 60 54.4 50 40 Percentage 30 20 10 0 Excessive force Rudeness Domestic Violence Other Figure 8 Other acceptable complaint categories were: o Sexual Harassment o Traffic Complaints o Criminal Misconduct o Civil Rights Violations o Administration Violations o Physical and Verbal Abuse 5. In my department.. o.there is a specific person assigned to receiving complaints. o.all complaints are received by an IA Unit intake officer. o.all levels of personnel are required to receive a complaint and pass it on to a supervisor/chief/ia intake officer. o.only the chief can receive a complaint. o.complaints are received by the first line supervisor. Figure 9 indicates responses to the five sub questions asked regarding the receipt of complaints. 9
Method of Receiving Complaints Area Yes No.there is a specific person assigned to receiving 12.1% 87.9%.all complaints are received by an IA Unit intake officer. 9.8% 90.2%.all levels of personnel are required to receive a complaint and pass it on to a supervisor/chief/ia intake officer. 73.6% 26.4%.only the chief can receive a complaint. 3.6% 96.4%.complaints are received by the first line supervisor. 77.9% 22.1% Figure 9 6. Does a complaint have to be signed by the complainant? Respondents indicated that 23.5% of the departments require the complaint to be signed and 76.5% do not require a signature. 7. Is the complainant notified of. o.the receipt of the complaint o.the disposition of investigation upon conclusion Figure 10 indicates the response to question 7. Complaint Notification Response Complaint Notification 100 90 80 70 60 50 88.8% 94.8% Yes No 40 30 11.2% 20 5.2% 10 0 Receipt of Complaint Figure 10 Disposition of Investigation 10
Respondents also indicated other forms in which notification was made, including: o Mail o Verbally o Telephone o In person 8. Does your agency document and track complaints? Respondents indicated that 92.8% of the departments document and track complaints versus 7.2% who do not document or track complaints. 9. Which categories of complaints are not documented in your department? Members were asked to select from five types of IA complaints. These categories were: o Verbal abuse o Physical abuse o On-duty o Off-duty o Other Respondents indicated that 92% of all complaints are documented and tracked. Figure 11 identifies types of IA complaints that are not documented or tracked. IA Complaints not Documented or Tracked Figure 11 Below are responses that were included in the other block as additional types of IA complaints: o Complaints Minor In Nature o Drug And Alcohol o Informal Complaints o Traffic Citation Complaints 11
10. How are complaints documented and tracked? The survey results show that 72.8% of complaints are tracked manually while 48.3% are done electronically. Note that due to the flexibility of choosing more than one answer choice, the manually and electronically categories do not equal to 100 percent. Some departments document and track complaints using both methods. 11. If your Department uses software for complaint tracking, what type is it? Possible answers: o Custom Designed For My Department o Commercial Software o Not Applicable Figure 12 shows respondents response to software question. Software Tracking Type Not Applicable Not Applicable 62.70% Commercial Commercial Software Software 20.80% Custom Custom Design Design 16.40% Figure 12 Software listed by respondents are: o IA Pro o COPS RMS o MS Access, MS Word, MS Excel o Administrative Investigative Management o CODY Record Management System o Filemaker Pro o Case Management o I.M.C Management System o IA Tracker o LEA Database o Niche & Vesaterm o ProPhoenix RMS o Recorder o Delani Solutions o Spilman o Summit o IACP Database 12
12. Does the agency complaint process contain an Early Warning System? Responses indicated that only 37.3% of departments have an Early Warning System and 62.7% indicated that their complaint process does not include an Early Warning System. 13. How effective has the Early Warning System proven to be in identifying problem officers? Respondents were able to choose from four categories in question 13. The categories were: o Very Effective o Effective o Neutral o Not Effective Figure 13 shows the percentage response to question # 13. Effect of EWS in Departments 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 12.3% 39.0% 44.8% Series1 10% 3.8% 5% 0% Very Effective Effective Neutral Not Effective Figure 13 Agency IA Investigation Procedures In this category, a total of eight questions were asked of the IACP membership. Within the eight questions, some questions provided an other option to provide more detail. The survey questions and responses follow: 1. Is the investigated officer notified of a complaint? o Respondents indicated that 98.3% of investigated officers are notified of a complaint filed against them and 1.7% indicated that the officer is not notified of the complaint. 13
2. What is the initial timeline for the completion of an IA Investigation? o 30 Days o 45 Days o 60 Days o 90 Days o > 90 Days Figure 14 shows responses to the question above. Department IA Completion Timeline Figure 14 3. Which of the following disposition categories are used in your department? o Sustained o Not Sustained o Exonerated o Unfounded o Other Figure 15 shows the responses regarding disposition categories. Department Disposition Usage 14
Figure 15 Below are responses listed under the other block stating different types of dispositions used by agencies: o Administratively Closed o Appropriate Conduct o Bonafide o Non Bonafide o Cleared o Charged o Not Charged o Complaint Withdrawn o Exceptionally Cleared o Dropped o Founded o Inconclusive o Improper Conduct o Informal Resolution o Informal Findings o Insufficient o Justified o Mediated o Organizational Issue o Policy Violation o Policy Failure o Proper Conduct o Suspended o Training Need o Unresolved o Withdrawn 4. Who investigates a complaint made with your department? Members were asked to select from six categories of IA investigators: o Senior Officer o First Line Supervisor o IA Unit Member o Chief o Outside agency o Other Figure 16 shows the responses about who investigates IA complaints in a department. Department Investigator Assignment Responses listed in the other option were: o Assistant Chief o Captain o Lieutenant Figure 16 15
o Sergeant o Administrative Personnel 5. What type of IA complaint would be turned over to an outside agency? Respondents listed the following types of complaints that would be turned over to an outside agency: o Complaint Against Chief o Criminal Charges Filed Against Officer o Serious Allegation Complaints o Illegal Activities Complaints o Shooting Incident o Incident Involving Death o Federal Crime o Fatal Vehicle Crash o EEO Complaint o Excessive Force o Drug o Ethics Issue o Violation Of Civil Rights 6. Has an outside agency handled any of your IA complaints? Member s responses indicated that 47% of the departments have had an outside agency handle an IA complaint and 52.3% have not. 7. When an outside agency conducted the IA investigation, was there any opinion voiced by the public? Members were presented with the following three possible answers: o Yes there was a positive feedback o Yes-there was a negative feedback o No-there was no feedback Figure 17 shows the responses to question 7. Outside Agency Public Opinion Public Feedback 23.60% 2.80% Yes Positive Feedback Yes Negative Feedback No No F eedback 73.60% 16
Figure 17 8. From my experience, turning over an investigation to an outside agency. o.increases credibility with the community. o.decreases credibility with the community. o.does not affect credibility with the community. Figure 18 reflects the responses to question 8 above. Community Input into the IA Process Affects of Community Credibility Figure 18 In this category a total of five questions were asked of the IACP membership. 1. Does the community have input into the investigation process within your agency? Responses indicated that 8.3% of the departments receive input from the community regarding the investigative process and 91.8% of the departments do not receive input from the community. 2. What kind of input is it? Area Yes.increases credibility with the community. 67.8% decreases credibility with the community. 3.5%.does not affect credibility with the community. 28.8% Members were asked to select from three types of possible input provided from the community as follows: o General policy input (e.g. town meeting) o Direct oversight (e.g. Civilian Review Board) o Other 17
Figure 19 shows respondents input choices. Community Input Type General Policy Input, 18.60% Other, 51.70% Direct Oversight Input, 29.70% Figure 19 Responses indicated in the other block for types of additional community input: o Board of Police Commission o City Council o Civil Service Commission o Ombudsman Board o Police Committee 3. Community input. o.is a valuable help when conducting IA investigations. o.is important for the sake of transparency. o.can jeopardize the investigation. o.decrease the autonomy and authority of the organization making the IA decisions. 18
Figure 20 reflects the responses to question 3 above regarding community input. Area.is a valuable help when conducting IA investigations..is important for the sake of transparency. Strongly Agree Agree Neither agree, Nor disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree 3.7% 13.3% 44.4% 26.5% 12.5% 8.2% 24.9% 38.7% 22.6% 5.8%.can jeopardize the investigation. 14.2% 40.7% 34.5% 8.6% 2.2%.decreases the autonomy and authority of the organization making the IA decisions. 14.4% 34.9% 36.2% 12.90% 1.9% Figure 20 4. Are the following IA resources available to the public? Members were able to indicate more than one answer from the following five IA resources: o Department s IA complaint policy o IA complaint form o IA complaint process description o IA disposition records o IA statistics 19
Figure 21 indicates the responses from question 4 stated above concerning IA resources available to public. IA Resources Available to Public 4.20% IA Statistics 33.60% 62.20% 2.90% Disposition Records 53.10% 44.00% Complaint Description 0.90% 11.00% 88.10% Do not Know No Yes 0.40% Complaint Form 8.80% 90.80% 1.30% Complaint Policy 12.10% 86.60% 0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00% 70.00% 80.00% 90.00% 100.00% Figure 21 5. What medium is used to make IA policy and procedures available to the public? o o o Brochure Website Other Figure 22 shows the responses obtained from question 5 stated above. 20
Forms of Medium Resources Available to the Public 46.9% 48% 46% 46.3% 44% 42% Brochure Website Other 40% Other 38% 40.0% Website 36% Brochure 1 Figure 22 Other forms of IA resources made available to the public reported in the other block were: o Advertisement o Annual Report o Available at Stations o Bulletin Board o Citizens Academy o City Clerk o Handouts o In-Person o Orally o Records Unit Agency IA Training Procedures In this category a total of eight questions were asked of the IACP membership. The survey questions and responses are as follows: 1. Does your department have an IA unit or a specific person to handle IA investigations? Member s responses indicated that 66.6% of the departments have someone designated to handle an IA investigation and 33.4% indicated that no one is designated within their department to handle an IA investigation. 2. Does your IA staff receive training? 21
Responses indicated that 90.3% of the departments provide training for IA staff and 9.7% do not provide training for IA staff. 3. Who does the training of your IA Staff? Members were presented with the following possible answers: o Inside the Agency o Outside of Agency Responses indicated that 9.1% of the departments training is done within the agency and 90.9% is done outside of the agency. 4. Are outside IA training resources used to train all employees? Responses indicated that 37.4% of departments use outside IA training resources and 62.6% do not use outside IA training resources to train all employees. 5. Do new supervisors receive mandatory Internal Affairs training when promoted? Responses indicated that only 39.9% of the departments new supervisors get IA training when promoted and 60.1% of newly promoted supervisors do not receive IA training. 6. How long does it take to complete IA supervisory training? o 1 Day o 2 Day o 1 Week o Other Figure 23 shows the timeline responses received from the survey regarding IA supervisory training. Supervisor IA Training Timeline 21.7% 1 29.4% 18.8% Other 1 week 2 day 1 day 30.1% 0.00% 5.00% 10.00% 15.00% 20.00% 25.00% 30.00% 35.00% 22
Figure 23 Other timelines used by respondents to complete IA supervisory training received in the other option were: o 2-8 hours o 3 days o Two weeks 7. How would you rate the following aspects of this training? Members were asked to select from three categories to rate IA training: o Comprehensiveness o Accuracy/Relevancy o Usefulness/Applicability Figure 24 shows the rating of the three aspects based on responses. Rate of Satisfaction of IA Training Usefulness/Applicability Accuracy/Relevancy Very Unsatisfactory Unsatisfactory Somewhat Satisfactory Very Satisfactory Comprehensivenesss 0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00% 70.00% Figure 24 8. If your department is less than 25 sworn, what type of training on IA and complaint tracking is provided to the personnel? Members with less than 25 sworn officers were asked to select from three categories to describe type of IA training. The categories were: o Not Applicable o Training custom designed for my agency o Training standardized according to federal, state or local guidelines o My agency does not provide IA training 23
Figure 25 shows the responses to question number 8 stated above regarding agencies with less than 25 sworn officers who provide training. IA Training for Agencies < 25 Sworn Officers Training Not Provided 15% Standardized Guideline 17% Not Applicable 57% Custom Designed 11% Survey Summary Figure 25 Majority of respondents were smaller agencies 91% of the agencies responding had an IA Policy Not all types of complaints are being investigated Most agencies have no Early Warning Systems (EWS) or Early Intervention Systems (EIS) There are a variety of IA dispositions being used by agencies There is a variance regarding who is assigned to IA investigation Agencies receive some type of input from a governing body into portions of the IA process Not all possible types of resources are used to inform the public of IA practice and policy IA Training is mostly done by outside agencies Training is not provided to supervisors in a timely manner Most complaint tracking is done manually Complaints are received in various forms such as by mail, phone and anonymously Agencies are making an effort to inform the public of the IA process in various ways, e.g. brochure and agency website. Community input remains controversial Recommendations Agencies should provide more and timely IA training for all in their agency Agencies should electronically record both the Complaint and IA investigations to improve early warning/intervention systems and to professionalize and standardize the practice Barriers should be eliminated so that all complaints can be investigated A common set of IA dispositions should be used by agencies, either within each state or nationally Agencies should continue to receive input from governing boards on IA Process as a means of 24
supporting accountability and community trust-building When appropriate and legal, IA disposition records and statistics should be available to the public The IA process should be as transparent as possible All supervisors should receive IA training upon promotion IA Training needs to be more available to all smaller agencies 25