10.4 Flashcards
The commander shall decide the overall classification of each complaint, based upon — —- ——- ———- —- during any stage of the investigation and the overall circumstances of the complaint
the most serious allegation made
A finding is a conclusion supported by:
A) a preponderance of the evidence leading to a belief that it is more likely than not.
B) a preponderance of all available evidence adequate to lead a reasonable and prudent person to reach the same conclusion.
C) a preponderance of the evidence leading to 51% or more weight toward a certain occurrence.
B)
The five findings in a citizens complaint are:
1) sustained
2) exonerated
3) no finding/undetermined
4) Departmental
5) unintentional error
Unintentional Error occurs when:
The act (or omission) did occur and it is deemed improper, but was the result of an employee’s honest mistake
Undetermined/No Finding occurs when:
Used only when the evidence, or lack thereof, precludes the investigator from making a definitive judgment.
Departmental finding is used when:
the employee’s actions are fully in compliance with Department policy and/or procedure, but the policy or procedure itself is found to be erroneous or is the cause of the complainant’s concerns. ***Departmental is also the only allowable finding for Departmental complaints
Citation Validity is normally a Category II complaint, a citation validity allegation (shall/should/may) be processed as an ‘Other’ complaint if there are no other allegations by the complainant.
May
In departmental complaint cases, what shall be listed as the employee on the CHP 240?
A) California Highway Patrol
B) Departmental
C) Departmental Policy
D) Department
D) “Department”
A Departmental complaint should be documented as what category complaint
an Other complaint.
The ———– —- is a reference file maintained by the Bureau of Internal Affairs of complainants who have demonstrated a propensity for filing numerous false or frivolous complaints.
Information File
A complaint made to this Department concerning the policies, procedures, or employee conduct of another agency’s a(n):
A) Other Agency Complaint
B) Non-Departmental complaint
C) Allied Agency complaint
D) Outside Agency Complaint
A) Other Agency Complaint
A complainant’s request to rescind a complaint (does/does not) relieve the commander from the responsibility to determine the validity of the allegations
Does not
Vehicle Storage/Impound Complaint is a complaint that involves the validity of a vehicle storage or impound, and is not related to employee misconduct. These (may be/are not) accepted as citizens’ complaints…
Are not
All complainants shall be acknowledged by correspondence within (#) (type) days of the Department’s notification of the complaint
5 business
the complainant shall be requested to return the CHP 240B or CHP 240D within:
ten (10) business days.
Citizen complaint investigations concerning off duty conduct shall be restricted to instances where a:
clear connection or nexus to employment by this Department has been made by the employee
Situations in which a citizens complaint of off duty conduct by an employees may warrant investigation under HPM 10.2 include: (looking for 3 conditions)
- allegations of illegal conduct (excepting infractions),
- actions of a highly questionable nature or which bring discredit to the Department,
- or when a commander deems an investigation to be in the best interests of the Department.
T/F
A citizens complaint may be filed against a uniformed or non-uniformed member of the department via the Departmental website.
False, only against non-uniform
The responsibility to investigate a citizen’s complaint rests with the current commander of the Area/Section to which the involved employee was
/is assigned:
A) currently
B) at the time the incident occurred
B
T/F
addition, with the concurrence of the commander, the limited use of acting sergeants or Officers-In-Charge to assist with specific facets of an investigation is permitted.
True
T/F
For uniformed employees assigned to special assignments under allied supervision, it may prove more practical to coordinate the investigation and documentation of any complaints with the employee’s special assignment supervisor. However, In no event shall the responsibility be relinquished to any outside agency.
True
A chronological log is only required in which type of CC Investigation?
Category I, but encouraged for all
T/F
An employee is not entitled to representation during a CC interview.
False: If the complaint investigation is of a serious nature, and/or the facts indicate adverse action may reasonably result, the employee shall be afforded the right to representation, but not routinely afforded when above is not met
T/F
A belief on the employee’s part that adverse action is being considered, irrespective of the interviewer’s designs or intentions, may be sufficient grounds to warrant granting representation rights.
True
Statements by complainants and witnesses (shall/should/may) be recorded in potentially serious cases, as determined by the commander.
Shall, encouraged for all cases
T/F
If consent is not granted by the employee, and the investigator believes obtaining a recorded statement is absolutely necessary, then an Administrative Interrogation must be held.
True
The employee’s complaint history (shall/shall not) be examined in order to determine the existence of previous complaints which would be relevant to the current investigation.
Shall
T/F
Investigators should use specific references to previous complaints in their findings section in order to prove the link between incidents.
False: in the event an investigation is released through legal discovery, specifically identified previous complaints may then also become discoverable. Accordingly, it is recommended that only generic statements be made regarding previous complaint findings, unless a more specific reference is warranted to support a particular finding.
The method used to obtain the evidence and its relevance to the investigation in a Category I Complaint should be documented under which heading:
A) Evidence
B) Complaint Summary
C) Chronological Summary
D) Other Factual Information
C) Chronological Summary
and then included as an exhibit in the investigative file.
The method used to obtain the evidence and its relevance to the investigation in a Category I Complaint should be documented under which heading:
A) Evidence
B) Complaint Summary
C) Chronological Summary
D) Other Factual Information
B) Complaint Summary
and then included as an exhibit in the investigative file.
T/F
An administrative interview is a form of evidence.
True: And as such, any tapes of interrogations or witness interviews should be stored in the command’s evidence storage site, with the CHP 36, Evidence/Property Receipt/Report, included as an investigation exhibit.
Evidence pertaining to an citizens complaint investigation conducted in accordance with this manual shall be stored for a period of: beginning with the date:
five years
the complaint is filed
To ensure evidence is not inadvertently destroyed prematurely, the CHP 36 (shall/should/may) be annotated with the appropriate date of destruction when the evidence is stored.
Shall
Which command shall the evidence from a CC investigation be stored after an employee transfers?
Evidence shall remain in the command which originally completed the investigation, regardless of any subsequent transfers of the involved employees
Any existing audio and/or video recordings made by uniformed employees relating to any enforcement activity (shall/should/may) be provided to the Department upon request.
Shall