When law enforcement officers become aware of wrongdoing within their agencies, they may feel a professional and ethical obligation to lodge a complaint.  After all, public trust in law enforcement depends on the willingness of officers to “speak up” when they become aware of unlawful police practices, misuse of public funds, or unlawful discriminatory practices. 

Agency leaders and those tasked with conducting IA investigations are required to ensure that these individuals are not unfairly targeted for investigation, discipline, or other negative employment actions that could dissuade others from coming forward in the future if they have a good faith belief that wrongdoing has occurred. 

However, whistleblower protections are not intended to provide officers with immunity from legitimate IA investigations or appropriate discipline. In some cases, officers accused of misconduct may attempt to invoke whistleblower protections to shield themselves from accountability by making allegations against fellow officers, supervisors, or agency administrators.  Furthermore, even officers who have made legitimate, legally protected complaints remain subject to appropriately administered discipline for their own misconduct or poor performance.

The challenge for law enforcement leaders and IA investigators is to strike the proper balance between protecting officers from unlawful retaliation while also ensuring that whistleblower protections do not become a shield against legitimate accountability.

This two-hour webinar training is designed to assist agency leaders and IA investigators in navigating the legal protections that apply to law enforcement officers who claim to be acting as whistleblowers in lodging complaints of wrongdoing.  Through relevant case law and practical examples, attendees will explore the circumstances under which IA investigations, disciplinary decisions, and other employment actions may constitute unlawful retaliation—and the steps agency leaders can take to ensure that legitimate accountability measures remain legally defensible.

Topics covered in this two-hour webinar include:

• Recognizing when IA investigations, disciplinary actions, and other employment decisions may constitute unlawful whistleblower retaliation
• Documenting legitimate, non-retaliatory grounds for investigations and disciplinary decisions involving officers who have engaged in protected whistleblower activity
• Recognizing that good faith claims of discrimination, harassment, or other wrongdoing may be dismissed while retaliation claims still survive under the law
• Striking a proper balance so that good faith complaints do not subject officers to whistleblower retaliation, while also ensuring that lodging bad faith complaints that constitute false statements are the subject of proper discipline