Township of Patterson, PA Officer-Involved Shooting Investigation Policy

Independent agency.

The investigation of an officer-involved shooting shall be conducted primarily by a law enforcement agency independent from the agency involved in the shooting. The use of the independent agency avoids any appearance of bias in the investigation. The agency or municipal police department employing the officer involved in the shooting will play a role in supporting and coordinating with the independent agency because of that agency's knowledge of its own internal procedures and policies. However, the independent agency maintains ultimate investigative responsibility.

(2)

The Beaver County District Attorney designates the Pennsylvania State Police to investigate all officer-involved shootings.

(3)

An officer-involved shooting involving the Pennsylvania State Police will be investigated by Pennsylvania State Police personnel not currently assigned to the Beaver Barracks of Troop D.

(4)

The Beaver County District Attorney's Detective Bureau shall assign two detectives to assist the Pennsylvania State Police in any investigation unless the officer-involved shooting involves an employee of the District Attorney's Detective Bureau, Emergency Services Unit or Anti-Drug Task Force.

Notification. The municipal police department or law enforcement agency involved in the officer-involved shooting shall notify the Pennsylvania State Police and on-call Beaver County District Attorney's detective as soon as possible as circumstances allow. The Pennsylvania State Police will immediately notify their Major Case Team. If the Pennsylvania State Police is involved in the officer-involved shooting the Pennsylvania State Police shall immediately identify the assisting troop. When the Pennsylvania State Police arrives at the scene they become responsible for the scene.

District attorney.

(1)

At the conclusion of the investigation, the District Attorney will be required to make a decision whether the shooting was justified or whether criminal charges should be filed. Because the District Attorney has this responsibility, it is important that the Pennsylvania State Police report directly to the District Attorney in order to assure that all necessary investigative steps are followed. The Pennsylvania State Police shall work under the direction of the District Attorney.

(2)

The District Attorney shall make or approve all media contact, interviews or press releases before they are made.

(3)

The District Attorney shall make all decisions related to the public release of videos, audio recordings, photographs, 911 tapes and records, or investigative records.

(4)

The Pennsylvania State Police will regularly consult with the assigned county detectives and assigned Assistant District Attorney. Any proposed criminal filing, search warrant or arrest warrants shall be reviewed by the assigned Assistant District Attorney before being filed or served.

(5)

An officer-involved shooting involving the District Attorney's Detective Bureau will be referred to the Pennsylvania Attorney General for prosecution.

Safety. When an officer-involved shooting occurs, the first priority is the safety of any injured person and the security of law enforcement personnel. Emergency medical treatment should be provided to any injured person. After such safety and security have been established, the scene is to be secured immediately.

Securing the scene. The scene of the incident shall be fully secured. A perimeter shall be established using crime scene tape and personnel. There shall be only one entry/exit point for the scene. An officer shall be assigned to the entry/exit point to keep a log of any person who enters the scene. No evidence at the scene shall be moved or altered, except where required for safety concerns. If a person is dead at the scene, law enforcement shall shield the body from public view.

Photographs. If possible, the Pennsylvania State Police shall photograph the officers involved in the shooting in the uniforms worn by those officers during the shooting.

Firearms.

(1)

To the extent possible, any firearms involved in the officer-involved shooting or located at the scene should remain in place and undisturbed prior to the scene being processed. If the scene is fully secured and a firearm is at the scene, an officer should be posted to guard the firearm. If the scene is of such a nature that the firearm cannot be safely left at the scene, officers at the scene should move the firearm to a secure location, but not otherwise alter the condition of the firearm (for instance, do not unload it). If the firearm involved is still in the possession of the officer involved in the shooting, that officer shall surrender his or her firearm to a supervisor. The supervisor then shall secure the firearm for later inspection without altering the condition of the firearm. Any officer involved in the shooting also shall surrender his or her duty belt to a supervisor. All movements of and transfers of the firearm and duty belt shall be documented.

(2)

The Pennsylvania State Police shall make all decisions related to securing police firearms and duty belts.

(3)

Attention shall be paid to the custom of providing an officer with a substitute firearm. Exceptions to this custom shall be decided by the Chief of Police for the involved agency, and may include medical or psychological reasons, if the officer will likely be charged with excessive use of force, or if the officer will be suspended pending the outcome of the investigation.

Processing the scene. The Pennsylvania State Police shall process the scene for evidence. The Pennsylvania State Police shall maintain custody of all recovered evidence until the District Attorney makes a final decision on the nature of the shooting. Some of the standard evidentiary issues to consider when processing the scene include: 1) for a large scene, it may be useful to use a total station device or similar tool to ensure complete and accurate mapping of the scene; 2) video recording of the scene; 3) securing any video recording of the event, including body-worn cameras, mobile video recorders, civilian-recorded videos, and/or surveillance videos; 4) photographing all critical pieces of evidence, such as location of weapons on-scene; 5) if the person shot at police officers, obtaining gunshot residue samples from the hands/clothes of the suspect; and 6) processing any firearms, knives, or other weapons for DNA and/or fingerprints.

Multiple officers involved. If multiple officers were involved in the shooting, those officers shall avoid discussing the details of the shooting together both before and after the offices are interviewed. The officers may confirm the well-being of their fellow officer(s). To the extent practicable, after the scene has been secured, the involved officers should be kept separate at the scene, on the ride back to the station, and at the station prior to their respective interviews. The transportation of the involved officers from the scene back to the station (or other location) shall be noted in a report, including who transported each officer.

Interviews.

(1)

The Pennsylvania State Police shall conduct interviews related to the officer-involved shooting. The initial "officer safety" interview of any officer who discharged his or her weapon during the officer-involved shooting and any officer who witnessed the shooting shall take place as soon as reasonably possible, taking into consideration potential issues of shock and trauma to the officer, as well as any applicable procedures established in a governing collective bargaining agreement. Each officer shall be advised of his or her right to representation by counsel or union representatives prior to any interview.

(2)

Under normal circumstances, there will be an initial "officer safety" interview for purposes of public safety and orientation of the scene. There will be a later, more detailed interview after the offices have had an opportunity to decompress and the evidence at the scene has been reviewed. This later investigative interview by custom takes place approximately 72 hours after the incident. The timing of each interview will depend on the circumstances of the shooting. Interviews of civilian witnesses shall take place according to the same timing and procedures.

(3)

Garrity interview. The "officer safety" interview and the later investigative interview are separate and distinct from any Garrity interview which may be conducted by the Chief of Police or supervisors of the officers involved in the officer-involved shooting.

(4)

Internal affairs investigation. The department of any officer involved in any officer-involved shooting has the discretion to conduct the department's internal affairs investigation into the shooting at the same time as or after the District Attorney's investigation. That department's internal affairs investigation shall be separate and distinct from the District Attorney's investigation. Because of the potential impact of warnings provided under Garrity v. New Jersey, 385 U.S. 493 (1967), the Internal Affairs investigation may not be commingled with the criminal investigation. That department's internal policies regarding the work status of any officer shall control regarding those issues.

Counseling. Any law enforcement officer involved in an officer-involved shooting should receive counseling after the event. This counseling should be available immediately after the event and on an ongoing basis as needed.

Union representatives. The union representative of the officers involved may be present for the interview of the officers and otherwise involved in representing the officers. Therefore, to the extent possible, the union representative should not be involved in any other aspect of the investigation in order to avoid any claim of conflict of interest (for instance, taking possession of the officer's weapon).

Confidentiality. Prior to the District Attorney's final decision regarding an officer-involved shooting, all officers involved in the incident and investigation shall maintain complete confidentiality regarding the incident. All media inquiries are to be directed to the DAO.

Video/audio recording release. If there is a video/audio recording of the officer-involved shooting, the District Attorney will need to make a decision whether to release the recording publicly. This is a very case-specific decision, requiring the balancing of many factors. In general, the following guidelines are appropriate. If the shooting has been deemed justified, the recording should be released. The public should be allowed to see the basis for the prosecutor's decision. If the officer may be or has been charged, the recording should not be released. The Pennsylvania Rules of Professional Conduct specifically restrict prosecutors from releasing material that will "have a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing an adjudicative proceeding in the matter" or "have a substantial likelihood of heightening public condemnation of the accused." See Rules 3.6(a) and 3.8(e) of the Pennsylvania Rules of Professional Conduct. The release and widespread public dissemination of a recording where an officer may be or has been charged will make it substantially more difficult to provide for a fair trial.

Preliminary statement. The District Attorney shall have the discretion to make a preliminary statement to the public about the factual circumstances of the officer-involved shooting. Because the investigation will still be ongoing at that point, the District Attorney may be limited in the areas that can be covered, but a preliminary statement may be useful for the public to understand the basic issues involved in the investigation. Whether a preliminary statement will be issued will depend on the circumstances of every case.

Completion of investigation. Once the Pennsylvania State Police and District Attorney have completed the investigation of an officer-involved shooting, the District Attorney shall publicly announce the results regarding whether the shooting was legally justified. The timing will depend on the factual and legal circumstances of the officer-involved shooting. As a general policy, if the shooting is deemed justified, the officers involved will not be named. This follows the general rule that citizens who are not charged with a crime are not identified publicly. If the shooting is deemed not justified and criminal charges are filed, the case will be treated with the same rules that cover other criminal cases.

Beaver County Officer-Involved Shooting Investigation Policy
Summary
What WILL occur on the day of the event?		What Will Not occur on the day of the event?
•	Agency involved in the event will promptly notify PSP and County detectives	•	Officer will not be formally interviewed or asked to write a statement for 72 hours
•	PSP will assume control of the scene upon their arrival	•	Officer will not be required to write a formal report
•	PSP will investigate the event in cooperation with the County detectives	•	Officer will not be allowed to leave the scene or station until released by PSP
•	Officer will be asked to provide a contemporaneous "officer safety" statement	•	Except for purposes of officer safety in an ongoing event, no firearms will be moved, cleared or re-loaded until examined by PSP
•	Officer will be encouraged to contact family ASAP	•	No video recordings, audio recordings, 911 communications or investigative materials will be publicly released except by the DA
•	Officer will be photographed unchanged from the event, wearing firearm and belt	•	After 72 hours, formal officer interview by PSP will occur with the right of FOP and Counsel
•	Officer will be provided with Peer support, FOP support and offered counseling	•	Garrity or internal investigation will be separate and distinct from PSP investigation
•	Chief will make decisions regarding administrative leave or stress reacclimation after input from investigators.
•	All investigative interviews will be memorialized by audio and/or video recording