Regional Investigations Supervisor - Pierce County Apply
Full job description
Description
Who We Are
In response to citizen deaths resulting from encounters with law enforcement and the communitys demand for change, the Washington State Legislature created a new, first-of-its-kind agency: The Office of Independent Investigations (OII). This new agency was formed in 2021 and the law requires that investigations involving law enforcement agents use of deadly force must be truly independent and investigated by an agency unconnected to law enforcement or a prosecutors office.
Our mission is to conduct fair, thorough, transparent, and competent investigations of incidents involving use of deadly force. This innovative approach to investigations will remove conflicts of interest, improve accountability and transparency, and renew the publics confidence. Through these efforts, we hope to strengthen the relationships between police and the community, build public trust, and promote effective policing. To help us carry out this mission, we are looking for Investigators of all levels to join our growing team.
As a Regional Investigations Supervisor on our team, you will play an integral role in the investigations of complex, high-profile cases involving police use of deadly force. Your primary focus will be to ensure critical decisions are made in response to incidents reported by involved law enforcement agencies. You may serve as the Incident Commander to manage the investigation scene, direct operations, and coordinate with other entities to apply resources and staffing to accomplish objectives. You will be a subject matter expert, providing expert guidance and consultation to OII administration, investigative teams, legal counsel, and public/private entities.
You will also have the unique opportunity to partner with peer supervisors throughout the state to provide input and assistance on internal policy development, consistency in processes and procedures, obtaining necessary equipment and tools for investigative teams, ensuring investigators complete necessary trainings and managing investigator hiring processes to maintain staffing needs. This position is overtime eligible.
This position will focus on incidents in Region 2, which includes Pierce County. For more information, please see the Office of Independent Investigations Regional Map: https://oii.wa.gov/investigations
Due to the nature of these positions, you must pass a pre-employment background check to be eligible for hire. Background checks include a mental health evaluation, fingerprinting, and a polygraph.
Duties
What youll do:
- Lead investigation team(s) in assigned geographic areas in complex, comprehensive, investigations of police use of deadly force, ensuring a non-biased, anti-racist lens.
- Plan, supervise, schedule, train, and maintain integrity and quality of regional investigation activities.
- Serve as, or assign, an Incident Commander to manage critical incident scenes and provide leadership and direction to OII investigation teams.
- Ensure appropriate investigation methods and procedures are followed to identify, collect, preserve evidence, obtain witness statements, surveillance video, body worn video and other investigative needs.
- Coordinate with on-scene personnel and other agencies involved in concurrent investigations.
- Maintain communication with Director of Investigations on all cases, including issues and best practices arising from investigations.
- Ensure family and tribal liaisons are deployed and identify any additional support resources for anyone involved that may be necessary.
- Ensure consistent interpretation of investigative and other policies, and that accountability, human resources, and best practice guidelines are followed.
- Assign and monitor caseloads, review, and approve investigation reports for quality and completeness, evaluate employee performance, monitor training plans, provide coaching, mentoring, and counseling to your team.
- Conduct hiring processes and interviews and recommend prospective staff for hiring.
- Ensure performance expectations and criteria are established and met so that the investigations teams work is consistent and uniform with established policies and procedures.
- Testify in court as needed.
- Build relationships and coordinate with police, coroners, deputy prosecutors, assistant attorneys general, local, state, and federal law enforcement, and other interested parties.
- May carry a caseload and/or assume responsibility for investigations and subsequent court proceedings for critical cases and ensure court cases are prepared for and supported by investigations staff.
- Ensure investigators follow all requirements related to confidentiality, major case management principles and protocols, and data management.
- Monitor self and investigative staff in following health and safety procedures.
- Evaluate complaints against investigations staff:
- Receive citizen and law enforcement complaints concerning the performance of investigation staff and ensure complaints are handled swiftly, in a professional manner, and according to OII policy.
- May investigate the complaint by conducting interviews and reviewing available evidence or supporting information.
- Confer with OII leadership on outcomes of internal investigations to identify appropriate resolution.
- Ensure internal complaints and outcomes are documented properly.
- When resources dictate, assist investigative teams in completing investigative tasks.
Qualifications
Required Qualifications:
- Seven (7) or more years of experience with a law enforcement agency, criminal justice government agency, or investigative body with legal adversarial processes.
- Three (3) or more years of experience leading staff and operations with proven success as a mentor and leader.
- Demonstrated experience in:
- Conducting complex criminal investigations to include managing homicide and/or serious crime investigations.
- Providing testimony and presenting evidence in criminal court.
- Working in a multi-disciplinary environment with sensitive and high-profile cases.
- De-escalation techniques and utilization of those techniques.
- Knowledge of Washington practices, including laws, policies, and procedures related to criminal law, criminal investigations, and policing. Significant knowledge of comparable practices outside of Washington may be used as a substitute for this requirement.
- Experience using data and information to assess and understand issues, evaluate options, form conclusions, and make decisions.
- Experience in caseload management: appropriately prioritizing and concurrently servicing multiple, long-term, case assignments integrating many factors into case decisions, ensuring accurate and high-quality service delivery.
- Knowledge of the rules of evidence and chain of custody necessary to protect integrity of evidence gathered during an investigation.
- High awareness of the need for and purpose of police oversight.
- Bachelors degree in a field related to law, investigation and enforcement, psychology, sociology, forensics, criminology, or equivalent field.
- Knowledge of relevant legislation, regulations, and experience working in quasi-judicial and judicial environments.
- Experience as an analyst, including social media analysis or relevant investigations experience.
- Experience in behavioral health issues, youth cognitive development, and trauma-informed interviewing.
Supplemental Information
How to Apply
Interested? We would love to hear from you. Click Apply at the top of this page to start your application (you can save the application and come back to it, if needed). In your submission, please include the following:
- A letter of interest that describes your specific qualifications, including any experience or knowledge in the following areas:
- Behavioral health issues
- Youth cognitive development
- Trauma-informed interviewing
- De-escalation techniques and utilization
- A current resume that details your applicable experience and qualifications.
- Three professional references with current contact information, including a telephone number and email address.
Questions?
For questions about this recruitment or to request reasonable accommodation in the application process, please email Tiffany Lewandowski at Recruiting@oii.wa.gov. For TTY service, please call the Washington Relay Service at 7-1-1 or 1-800-833-6388.
The Office of Independent Investigations is an equal opportunity employer. We strive to create a working environment that includes and respects cultural, racial, ethnic, sexual orientation and gender identity diversity. Women, racial and ethnic minorities, persons of disability, persons over 40 years of age, and disabled and Vietnam-era veterans are encouraged to apply. If you need accommodations or help in the application process, or who wish to receive this job announcement in an alternative format, you may call 360-725-0158 or dial 711 to reach the Telecommunications Device for the Deaf system.
