must, however, be skilled in dealing with people who may at the time be emotional and even unreasonable. The third and fi nal element of the complaint process is a well-trained supervisor. If the complaint is minor, the first-line supervisor, in most cases, will take the initial complaint and conduct the administrative in- vestigation. There are good reasons for the fi rst-line supervisor conduct- ing the administrative investigation. It keeps the supervisor invested in the disciplinary process and taking responsibility for the actions of the offi cer under his/her supervision. If a supervisor has to conduct inves- tigations regarding the conduct of an offi cer under his/her supervision, he/ she will have an incentive to correct that behavior. A typical policy states: If the violation is sustained and the punish- ment would be less than lost time, the offi cer’s supervisor will conduct the investigation. No obstacles should be in place that discourage citizens from


stands that there was no violation and he/she is satisfi ed with the explanation he/she receives, this will end the inves- tigation.


Documentation of the complaint, however, should be forwarded. The reason for this is that the department may have procedures or training issues that generate unnecessary complaints. The complaint should be forwarded


The first-line supervisor often handles both the investigation and the discipline in cases of minor accusations.


to the internal affairs unit. Small agen- cies may not justify a full-time unit, but they should have a designated person who handles that function. The reason for designating one person is to assure uniformity as to how complaints are handled. Once in the internal affairs unit it will


be classifi ed, assigned a number, and be either fi led or forwarded for more investigation. If the citizen was satisfi ed with the explanation he/she received, some agencies are classifying this as a


coming forward when they feel they have a complaint. Law en- forcement has made substantial changes in the last 20 years. In the past, many police departments required citizens to come to the station to fi le a complaint and they were not always received in a friendly manner. This has changed. Progressive police departments make it easy to fi le a complaint,


either in person, by letter, phone, e-mail, or by completing a form on the Internet. Many also accept anonymous complaints. Accept- ing anonymous complaints is in keeping with the philosophy of being serious about the conduct of the department employees. Police departments do not hesitate to accept anonymous infor-


mation regarding activity of criminals. There is no legitimate argu- ment for not accepting anonymous complaints about the conduct of our employees. It is true that some of these complaints may be retaliation for arrests or for personal reasons. This should be kept in mind when investigating anonymous complaints. It is very important for department employees to under-


stand the process and to whom complaints should be referred. This means that even if a civilian employee were approached by a citizen, he/she should know where to refer a complainant. Typically, most departments require the on-duty supervisor to take the offi cial complaint. In smaller departments, there may be no ranking offi cer avail-


able and the desk personnel or offi cer may have to take the com- plaint. The key here is to treat every complaining person seriously and show empathy no matter how frivolous you may think the problem. Many complaints occur because the citizens do not un- derstand legitimate police procedures, offi cer safety issues, or their limited rights once they are under arrest. Many of these misunderstandings can be clarifi ed by the person


taking the complaint. If it is clear the offi cer’s actions were within policy, it is incumbent upon the offi cer taking the report to explain that to the person making the complaint. If the complainant under-


citizen inquiry, or some other classifi cation, and not giving it an in- ternal affairs number. There’s nothing wrong with this practice as long as we keep track of those inquiries so we may correct policy or training issues. The complaint can be forwarded for an admin- istrative investigation or for a criminal investigation, or both. The internal affairs unit or designated person will determine whether this complaint should be investigated by internal af- fairs or the fi rst-line supervisor. A very few have internal af- fairs handle all complaints. Supervisors should receive special training in handling administrative investigations. If the com- plaint requires a criminal investigation, that is usually handled by regular detectives. One important point to remember is that when a supervisor


is conducting an internal affairs investigation, that supervisor is working for internal affairs and reports to them. While this is a violation of chain of command and unity of command, it is neces- sary to assure all procedures are followed properly and a com- plete, thorough investigation is done regardless of the skill of the supervisor. The primary reason for controlling complaints, assigning num-


bers, classifi cations, and responsibility for investigations is simply that we want to identify any problems. These problems can be individual personnel, policies, and techniques. It is very important for the disciplinary process to have an early intervention element.


Early Intervention There is a great deal of emphasis on early intervention in the disci- plinary process. This means that a major element of the system is to identify offi cers who may need special attention such as training, counseling, or closer supervision. History has shown that a small minority of offi cers generate a majority of citizen’s complaints. If these offi cers can be identifi ed early and corrective action taken, there will be positive results. The department has a vested interest in retaining trained and experienced offi cers. The department has a substantial investment


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