Chapter 14 Professional Standards And Integrity Division PDF

CHAPTER 14 – PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS & INTEGRITY DIVISION REV. APRIL 15, 2014 14.01 INTRODUCTION The Bexar County Sheriff's Office is amenable to citizen’s complaints concerning its personnel as a means of correcting undesirable behavior and improving service to the community. BCSO is equally conc...

CHAPTER 14 – PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS & INTEGRITY DIVISION REV. APRIL 15, 2014 14.01 INTRODUCTION The Bexar County Sheriff's Office is amenable to citizen’s complaints concerning its personnel as a means of correcting undesirable behavior and improving service to the community. BCSO is equally concerned about protecting its personnel from malicious complaints made against them by the public. 14.02 POLICY The responsibility for receiving and investigating all complaints of alleged malpractice or misconduct by personnel of the Sheriff's Office is placed with the Professional Standards and Integrity Division. This division responds directly to the Sheriff of Bexar County. 14.03 ORGANIZATION The Professional Standards and Integrity Division have the responsibility and authority to conduct investigations of the following situations: A. Any allegation or complaint of misconduct made by a citizen or other person against any member of the BCSO including civilian and reserve staff. B. Any alleged or suspected breach of integrity or moral turpitude. C. Any situation where a citizen is killed or injured by an officer, whether on duty or off duty. D. Any situation involving the discharge of firearms by an officer. E. Any allegation of violation of any state statue, law or local ordinance. (In a criminal matter the Chief Deputy may assign the case to CID prior to PSI involvement). F. Any investigation requested by a Division Administrator or the Commander of Professional Standards and Integrity into alleged violation of BCSO policy, ethics, or violation of law. G. Any investigation assigned by the Chief Deputy or the Sheriff. H. In the case of a deputy shooting where an officer wounds or kills a person, or a possible breach of the law by a deputy, Professional Standards and Integrity shall monitor as to insure that all facts of the case are clearly defined and that no facts are omitted which might cast a suspicion on the actions of any member of the Sheriff's Office. NOTE: Monitoring should be accomplished in a manner that will not hinder the ongoing investigation of other BCSO units, e.g. homicide, robbery, theft, etc. The Division Commander at the scene of an officer Effective date April 30, 2014 176 shooting shall make a decision as to whether or not Professional Standards and Integrity supervisor shall be notified to respond to the scene. 14.04 PROCEDURES The Professional Standards and Integrity Division maintain office hours from 8:00a.m. To 4:00p.m., Monday thru Friday. Investigators will respond to emergency calls on stand-by basis, after hours as assigned by the Commander of Professional Standards and Integrity. Reports and Records: A. Receives copy of injured prisoner’s reports. B. Receives copies of officers' reports routed to Professional Standards and Integrity by prescribed rules or by officer in anticipation of a complaint being made. C. All divisions are to submit a detailed report to Professional Standards and Integrity when any member of the division uses force to subdue a subject, including use of a secondary impact weapon, or discharge of an issued duty weapon, shot gun or other weapon. D. These reports are logged into the IAPro System under the officer's name. E. These files are used mainly by Professional Standards and Integrity; however, Division Administrators or Captains may review the files upon request, of any officer under their command. These files will be kept secured at all times. F. Complaint files will be addressed in the following section on processing. 14.05 COMPLAINT PROCESSING PROCEDURES Several types of complaints are commonly brought to the attention of the Professional Standards and Integrity Division. The type of complaint will dictate the procedure used. A. When a complainant alleges he/she is innocent of a traffic citation or arrest charge. The complaint is referred to the Courts for a ruling. B. When a complaint is of such nature that remedial action can be achieved through supervision, then the complaint is forwarded to the appropriate division. C. When in receipt of a complaint where no misconduct is found, the complainant will be advised that the officer acted within the scope of BCSO Rules and Regulations. D. Where it appears that the complainant has a bonafide complaint of a serious nature, a sworn statement will be taken by Professional Standards and Integrity. Effective date April 30, 2014 177  1. Professional Standards and Integrity will not take a sworn complaint from any person that is deemed intoxicated. These individuals will be asked to return the next day for statement taking. 2. Before taking a sworn statement the complainant is first given a copy of the perjury statutes to read, after the person acknowledges that they understand them, then the sworn statement is taken. a. The officer will be informed of the nature of the complaint. b. The officer will be allowed to review the complaint and statement made but will not receive a copy. E. Statements of witnesses are available under the Open Records Act upon written request. F. If the complaint or investigation is of a possible criminal nature, the Professional Standards and Integrity investigator will immediately notify the Commander of Professional Standards and Integrity. The Commander will evaluate the facts involved in the complaint and if it is determined that the complaint is criminal in nature the primary investigation will be transferred to the Criminal Investigations Division. Since different standards of proof are applied to the two types of investigations the Professional Standards and Integrity Division will monitor the criminal investigation and assume a secondary inquiry for BCSO violations. G. Professional Standards and Integrity Division will obtain reports from the officer and any other officer involved in the incident. These reports should clarify and answer all material and relevant questions pertaining to the incident that Professional Standards and Integrity feels was not covered in the original report. All reports from the accused officer will be made under the protection of Garrity vs. New Jersey, 385 U.S. 493(1967) and Spevack vs. Klein, 385 U.S. 511(1967). The reports will be prepared on the forms with the Garrity warning preprinted on it. H. When conducting the interview of the officer who is the subject of a complaint, the investigator must advise the officer of the nature of the complaint and that it is an administrative investigation. If the investigation is based upon a written complaint, the officer is entitled to review the written statement of their accuser prior to preparing their report or answering any questions on the matter. If the investigation is based on something other than a written complaint, the investigator must advise the officer of the nature of the alleged violation; the time, date and place of the violation; and a detailed description of the officer's alleged conduct or actions which gave rise to the violation prior to ordering the officer to respond to the allegations. Upon request, the officer may receive this information in writing. There will be no deception regarding the nature of the complaint. If the case is of a criminal nature it will be referred to the BSCO Criminal Investigations Division. If it is unknown at the time of the interview whether there is a violation of any criminal laws, the officer will be advised that the case may be referred to the Criminal Investigations Division but his statement to Professional Standards and Integrity will be protected from disclosure to any criminal investigator under the Garrity doctrine. I. In all Administrative investigations (Non-Criminal) the officer may be ordered by the Sheriff, the Professional Standards and Integrity Commander or their designee, to answer these relevant questions. J. The officer will be informed that his failure or refusal to answer the questions or to be polygraphed, when ordered, is grounds for discipline or dismissal from the BCSO as conduct prejudicial Effective date April 30, 2014 178 to good order, however any statement made by an officer based on threat of discipline for failing to respond will be inadmissible against him in any subsequent criminal proceedings. K. If the officer fails to respond to a verbal order to answer, the order will be reduced to writing and will be signed by either the Sheriff, the Chief Deputy or the Commander of Professional Standards and Integrity. 14.06 FOLLOW UP INVESTIGATION A. The Professional Standards and Integrity investigator will conduct a follow up investigation. B. The investigator will identify and locate witnesses and will make every effort to contact any person that may have information that will assist in resolution of the investigation. C. All witness statements will be reduced to writing and verified by both the person giving the statement and the investigator. D. If a complainant or witness refuses either to make a statement or to sign a statement, the investigator shall note this refusal into the record. E. The investigator will check the scene of the incident if necessary and take pictures and measurements. F. The investigators may listen to radio transmission tapes if necessary. He should copy and transcribe the transmission if he deems it necessary. G. The investigator should follow any lead that will bring any facts that may be pertinent to the case. 14.07 USE OF POLYGRAPH EXAMINATIONS A. When a case is of such a nature that Professional Standards and Integrity believes that a polygraph examination should be given, the complainant will be asked to submit to examination first. The officer will not be required to submit to a polygraph unless the complainant passes their exam. B. The polygraph examination is only used as an investigative tool and an officer shall not be disciplined for failure of the exam without corroborating evidence. C. Authorization for use of polygraph exam for any officer or employee of the BCSO shall come from either the Sheriff, the Chief Deputy, or the Commander of Professional Standards and Integrity. (Consider the request of the other Division Administrators.) D. An officer may be ordered to submit to a polygraph examination only in Administrative investigations. If the officer refuses to comply with a verbal request, the order will be reduced to writing and will be under signature of the Sheriff, Chief Deputy or Commander of Professional Standards and Integrity. E. Refusal of the involved employee to submit to a polygraph examination shall not be considered as a finding of guilt against the employee, but shall be considered as a refusal to obey a direct order of a Effective date April 30, 2014 179 superior officer and the employee so refusing the order shall be subject to disciplinary action as decided upon the appropriate administrator and approved by the Sheriff. 14.08 EXTERNAL AGENCY COMPLAINTS When another agency such as the FBI, DPS, SAPD, or the District Attorney notifies the BCSO of an investigation by their agency of one of the employees of the Sheriff’s Office, A. Professional Standards and Integrity will obtain copies of reports on the incident and a file will be created. B. Professional Standards and Integrity will monitor the investigation and will assist that agency if requested. 14.09 REPORTS AND FILES A. The Professional Standards and Integrity Division will maintain the information on all complaints, reports and files in the IAPro system. B. When the investigation is completed it is emailed to the appropriate division head. C. Professional Standards and Integrity shall also assist the District Attorney's Office in conducting further investigation on cases submitted to them by the Division. D. Professional Standards and Integrity files are confidential and will not be reviewed by unauthorized persons unless approved by the Sheriff, the Chief Deputy, or the Commander of Professional Standards and Integrity. Effective date April 30, 2014 180