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Internal affairs (law enforcement)
A division of a law enforcement agency / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Internal affairs (often known as IA) is a division of a law enforcement agency that investigates incidents and possible suspicions of criminal and professional misconduct attributed to members of the parent force. It is thus a mechanism of limited self-governance, "a police force policing itself". The names used by internal affairs divisions vary between agencies and jurisdictions; for example, they may be known as the internal investigations division (usually referred to as IID), professional standards or responsibility, inspector or inspectorate general, internal review board, or similar.
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Due to the sensitive nature of this responsibility, in many departments, officers employed in an internal affairs unit are not in a detective command but report directly to the head of internal affairs whom themselves typically report directly to the head of the parent agency, or to a board of civilian commissioners.
Internal affairs investigators are generally bound by stringent rules when conducting their investigations. For example, in California, the Peace Officers Bill of Rights (POBR) is a mandated set of rules found in the California Government Code which applies to most peace officers (law enforcement officers) within California.[1] The bill, among other provisions; restricts where and when a peace officer may be interviewed regarding the subject of an investigation; codifies the right of the peace officer being questioned to have a personal and/or legal representative present at most proceedings; guarantees the right of appeal to any non-probationary peace officer subject to punitive action by the agency; and requires that a peace officer being interviewed regarding an alleged criminal act be advised of their constitutional rights and protections (I.e. that they be Mirandized).