Re: Internal Affairs Questioning of a Peace officer

Yes, an officer may be terminated for that. The standard for terminating an officer based on a 5th amendment response in an IA interview is much lower than finding an employee guilty in a criminal prosecution. However, the termination may still have been unlawful.

I would need to know which law enforcment agency you work for (municipal, state, federal). Government employees are not "at will." They typically have many more rights than non-governmental employees. If this was the LAPD, the officer would have a right to a Board of Rights (Evidentiary) Hearing.

Was discrimination or whistleblowing involved?

I need to know many more details.

David G. Spivak, Esq.

(310) 772-2274

dspivak@shlawyers.com

Re: Internal Affairs Questioning of a Peace officer

Normally employment in the State of California is "at will," meaning that you can be terminated at any time for any reason other than that which is a violation of law such as; race, religion, sex, age, etc. In return you can quit anytime you want. From your message I gather that you are law enforcement and assume that you are in a union with a collective bargaining agreement. Your employer can change the at will status to "for cause," with a collective bargaining agreement, or by its own policies. From your message I cannot ascertain what your employers policies are. Bottom line is that if you envoke the 5th against compulsory self incrimination when being by questioned by internal affairs, what you are really doing is protecting your legal rights in case criminal charges are filed against you. It may be grounds for termination depending upon your employers policies. There is no right or wrong answer here because I do not have all of the facts of your case. You may call me for a free telephone consultation at 818-342-8020 x1 if you like.