Those Policing the Police Also Serve, Protect

Police officers are sworn to uphold the law. But what about when they break it, like the LAPD cops who burglarized businesses in Hollywood in the 1970s or the Devonshire Division detectives who robbed a jewelry store in the Northridge Fashion Center two decades ago?

That’s when the Los Angeles Police Department’s Internal Affairs Division investigates its own on charges that have ranged from theft and assault to domestic violence or even murder.

It’s a job that doesn’t win them any popularity contests.

“Some see us as a dark cloud,” acknowledged Lt. Jerry Szymanski, head of Internal Affairs--Valley section.

“But we are just trying to do our jobs. Our job is to get to the truth through investigations that are objective and comprehensive.”

Among the rank and file, internal affairs investigators are referred to as “headhunters” and “gatekeepers,” Szymanski said. And those are just the names they know of, he added.

But for all the pejoratives, internal affairs slots are coveted as a steppingstone to higher rank, he said.

IAD investigators, Szymanski notes, “fare pretty well on promotion tests.”

And it’s not like they’re ostracized, the lieutenant added. Every once in a while a colleague will still pick up the lunch tab or buy him a cup of coffee.

Qualifying for an IA assignment is not easy. Applicants must have a minimum of five years experience and a rank of detective or sergeant to apply.

A tour of duty in IAD lasts no more than three years, with good reason. The detectives are under considerable pressure, Szymanski said.

Pressure comes from the public demanding action on their complaints against officers, from city officials concerned about potential legal exposure and from the officers themselves, who demand due process to clear their names and records in cases of unfounded complaints.

And a lot of the pressure comes from him, he concedes.

“I’m constantly asking for more,” Szymanski said. “I put constant pressure on them to do complete investigations in the best way and fastest time they can.”

Some investigations can be handled by an officer’s direct superiors.

But in the most serious and complex cases, LAPD commanders will involve internal affairs, which can decide to keep the case in downtown headquarters or farm it out to IAD investigators in one of the four regional bureaus.

Investigators from the Valley Group usually handle five to 10 cases at a time. But LAPD management has been trying to reduce caseloads to speed up investigations, Szymanski said.

According to the latest LAPD statistics, Internal Affairs has 288 open cases throughout the city. Of those, 40 are in the San Fernando Valley.

There are more units now to do the job, Szymanski said. Where once there were only two IAD offices, now there are four, each housed separately from its headquarters.

In the Valley Bureau, for example, Internal Affairs works out of a building at 15545 Devonshire St. Downtown, Internal Affairs has space in the historic Bradbury Building on Broadway.

That should reassure citizens they won’t run into the officer they’re complaining about, as they might if they had to go to the officer’s regular station to lodge a protest.

“People aren’t always comfortable making complaints,” Szymanski said. “We’ve tried to make ourselves more accessible.”