6.12. Current Issues: Internal Affairs and Discipline 
TIFFANY MOREY 
Internal affairs (IA) exists to hold officers accountable for their actions. Whenever there is an issue, either 
brought forth by another officer, a supervisor or a member of the general public, the IA division of the police 
department is responsible for conducting a thorough investigation into the incident. Members of the IA 
division work directly under the Chief or Sheriff. 
In the 1960s the overwhelming number of riots revealed the problem of corruption and misconduct in 
policing- one of the most significant issues centered around citizen complaints against officers and the lack 
of proper investigation into the complaint. Most officers back then were found exonerated (not guilty) when 
a complaint ensued, and this did not bode with the public. 
1 
Supervisors in Policing Example 
As a young girl, I never had dreams of one day being a supervisor in the police world. In fact, I didn’t even want 
to be a cop! However, life would direct me towards policing, and after years of testing, I found myself hired as a 
police officer in Las Vegas. The life of an officer is full of wonder and excitement, but it is also full of stress, and a 
lot of pressure! After I completed the police academy, field training, and probation I soon learned that all supervisors 
(sergeants and lieutenants) were not created equal.I received my first police oficer annual evaluation and found that 
I ONLY met standards in the areas evaluated. How could that be, I thought? I had never worked harder! I always 
stayed late, I wrote amazing reports, I volunteered and helped out my community, I engaged in constant training, I 
did everything I knew AND was trained to do. Yet, I still only met standards. Now I wasn’t delusional. I knew that I 
was a new police officer and had many things to learn, but why was my sergeant failing to mentor or recognize me 
for my above average efforts in many areas? I was even told by a female sergeant, that she had to work harder than 
any other police officer because she was a female, so I should have to do the same. Where was mentoring? Where 
was the training offered by supervision? I soon learned it did not exist and the only way to create it was to test for 
promotion myself and enter the world of supervision as a sergeant. Don’t get me wrong, throughout my tenure as 
a police officer I did encounter some amazing supervisors, but they were rare and an exception to the rule. I did 
the test for promotion, and I was promoted to sergeant. My goals were to change the way officers were supervised 
1. Goldstein, H. (1977). Policing a free society. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger. 
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