|
Do you need a Union Rep? Most of you will complete your career with the
Department never needing the assistance of a Union Representative. For others,
as was with me many years ago, you may need a Union Rep once or twice a month!
Having a Union Rep present during each phase of an investigation could prove
invaluable to your career, but you will never know if you do not ask for us.
As a precursor, each and every one of you needs to understand that it is YOUR
RESPONSIBILITY to ask for a Union Rep. By law, the Employer DOES NOT have to
offer you the opportunity to request the presence of a Union Representative.
Under Labor Law you are also not entitled to a Union Representative if you are
not the focus of the investigation. In other words, if you are only a witness
you can be denied Union Representation. With this being said, let’s begin.
An investigation into you and/or your actions will usually begin when one of
your Supervisors (Sheriff, Undersheriff, Lieutenant, or Sergeant) or Detective
contacts you to discuss an issue. This can either be a direct request, ie: “we
need to talk about what you did…”, “you have a meeting at 1800 hours in the
Sheriff’s office..” or as simple as “hey, can I talk with you about something?
It’s no big deal….” Trust me here folks. I have been the victim of the latter
version several times. These “no big deal conversations” can occur anywhere at
anytime.
Once you have been contacted or ordered in, it is your responsibility to ask
the following two questions: 1: “Am I being ordered to answer
questions/provide a statement?” and 2: “Is there the possibility of
disciplinary action?” If you receive anything other than a “NO” response to
these questions, YOU NEED A UNION REPRESENTATIVE! At that time, request a
Union Representative. One thing to keep in mind, it is the Employees choice as
to who they have represent them, within reason.
Once you have contacted a Rep, we will meet briefly with you and get an idea
as to what we are looking at. If you have committed a crime, DO NOT CONFESS to
your Union Rep. There is no such thing as Union Rep/Employee privilege. If
there is potential for criminal investigation, we will contact POAM and begin
the legal process (another good reason be on the POAM Legal Plan!)
Once we have had a chance to talk about the situation, we will begin the
interview process with the Admin. Your Union Rep will ask the Admin if there
is a chance for criminal investigation. Interviews can be one of two types,
but not both. The interview will either be “administrative” in nature or
“criminal” in nature. If the Admin responds with anything other than “no” to
the criminal investigation question, your Union Rep will invoke your Garrity
rights. If the Admin attempts to deny your right to Garrity, your Union Rep
may advise you to invoke your 5th Amendment rights until you have
spoken with Legal Counsel.
Now Garrity is a confusing monster in and of itself. I highly recommend you
take a moment to read the information that we have reproduced on Garrity. In a
nut shell, Garrity is like Miranda for an Employee who is forced to make a
statement because of employment. Garrity will help protect your compelled
statements from being used against you in a criminal investigation. One must
understand that Garrity is only afforded to an employee when the chance of a
criminal investigation looms overhead. If there is no criminal aspect, then
there is no Garrity. Your Union Rep will handle this aspect of the interview.
Once we have determined the direction of the investigation, the questioning
will begin. The Admin will ask several questions concerning the matter at
hand. Be advised that the Admin will have done their homework on the situation
and will know most of the answers before they ask. This is where we tell each
of you to BE HONEST! Answer only the questions that you are asked. Do not
expound on the answer and do not offer any more information than what was
asked. We as police officers have a tendency to talk way too much and give up
too much information in our attempt to defend ourselves. Less is more in this
type of situation. Again, I am not telling you to lie or withhold information,
I am only advising you to think before you speak and speak only that which
answers the question.
While you are being interviewed, your Union Rep will be taking notes and maybe
writing notes to you. During the interview process you do have the right to
take a break to confer with your Union Rep. Your Union Rep may even ask the
same on your behalf. Your Union Rep will make sure that the questions do not
go off track or become inappropriate. Your Union Rep may also ask questions of
you and clarify matters that could be misinterpreted or misconstrued. We will
be your note taker and witness. We will also be your advisor if a situation
arises where you are asked to choose one thing or another. In a nutshell we
are there to make sure things are run fairly as compared to other interviews.
Following the interview, you will again meet with your Union Rep to discuss
the situation. Generally we are left to await the response of the Admin. When
the time comes, your Union Rep will file what paperwork needs to be filed or
contact whoever must be contacted.
The next step will usually be a letter advising of a follow-up meeting or a
letter advising of the unfounded nature of the complaint. If you receive a
letter scheduling another meeting, it is your responsibility to contact us and
make us aware of the meeting date. From here the process repeats. We will
assist you through each step of the investigation; however it is VERY
IMPORTANT THAT YOU INVOLVE US FROM THE BEGINNING! Don’t be like the criminal
that confesses everything and then contacts his/her attorney and cries because
the damage is done. IA investigations are like first impressions, it all
happens in the first 30 seconds. Don’t be a “bad first impression”.
If you ever have any questions concerning Union Representation or think you
may need Union Representation, do not hesitate to contact one of your
Executive Board members. Your Executive Board member will be more than willing
to contact the Admin and attempt to identify if Union Representation is
needed.
 |
Show/Hide comments