By the time misconduct issues are serious enough to generate attention from to the Internal Affairs Division or to the Professional Standards Division, it may be too late to effectively address the problem. Significant damage may already have been done and this damage is often in the form of harm to members of the public, the officer and the community’s trust in the agency.
Ultimately, internal affairs operations are vitally important for the agency as a whole and leaders throughout the department. First-line supervisors must be engaged in “inspecting what they expect” and having difficult conversations with officers as early as possible. Allowing an officer to develop a reputation for discourtesy, poor report writing or other minor performance issues without confronting the problem—all in the name of the defense that “it’s not my job”—is a proven recipe for legal liability and public trust disasters.
In this two-hour webinar, Attorney Matt Dolan will discuss:
· Case studies illustrating the success or failure of first-line oversight and its impact on IA operations
· The legal liability and public trust consequences of relying solely on citizen complaints in “inspecting what you expect”
· The role of accurate performance evaluations in effective officer discipline
· First-line supervisors as the primary source of early intervention in the face of poor officer performance
Director, Dolan Consulting Group
| Attorney Matt Dolan
Matt Dolan is a licensed attorney in the State of Illinois, who specializes in training and advising public safety agencies in matters of labor and employment law. His practice experience focuses on employment discrimination claims brought under federal law, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ("Title VII"), the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA"). He received his Bachelor's Degree in Political Science from DePaul University and his J.D. from Loyola University Chicago School of Law.
Matt serves as a public safety instructor with Dolan Consulting Group. He has trained and advised thousands of public safety professionals throughout the United States in matters of legal liability related to personnel management.
Consent Questions
First Line Supervisors and IA Operations | Hour 1
First Line Supervisors and IA Operations | Hour 2
