Principles for Public Safety Employment

In some circumstances, an agency may want to consider using someone from outside the agency to conduct the investigation, e.g. the subject of the investigation is a high ranking member of the agency. An outside investigator should also be considered if the investigation is complex, or involves issues of discrimination, harassment, or retaliation. Investigations can be very time consuming. It may be more efficient to have the investigation conducted by someone outside the agency who can devote the time necessary to conduct a prompt and thorough investigation. California’s “Private Investigator Act” mandates that persons, other than attorneys, hired to investigate claims of misconduct need to be licensed private investigators. 131

LCW Practice Advisor

5. G ENERAL F ORMAT FOR C ONDUCTING AN I NVESTIGATION Each administrative investigation must be conducted according to its own unique facts and circumstances. For example, witness availability may impact the order of witness interviews or the gathering of other evidence. But we believe the following approach should generally be used in processing most administrative investigations.

 Interview all witnesses (including individuals who may have seen nothing but who could have seen misconduct had it been occurring); generally, non suspect employee witnesses will be interviewed first in order to allow a concluding interview with the suspect employee to be the most comprehensive, yet circumstances do exist where the subject employee should be interviewed first in order to obtain unrehearsed answers and testimony that is not tainted by the subject having been advised of the investigation by individuals previously interviewed;  Tape record all interviews;  Prohibit employee 132 witnesses from discussing with any other employees or individuals the fact of their interview, the existence of an investigation, or any information shared with them only where the agency can point to articulable reasons, such as the need for protection of any witnesses, evidence in danger of destruction, or a risk of fabrication of testimony, justifying this restriction on employees’ right to discuss the terms and conditions of employment. While such an order has no practical impact upon non-employee witnesses, a strong suggestion of confidentiality should still be provided to such witnesses;  Collect physical evidence (videotapes, documents, etc.);

Principles for Public Safety Employment ©2022 (s) Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 45