I looked over the various forums and felt this was the best place to ask this question (opposed to the general forum).

I don't know too much about the real way that police work is done, mostly just what I have seen in TV and movies.  It seems like there is an overwhelming amount of hatred for internal affairs from the normal police officers.

If that is true, I never really understood it.  The way it seems to me is simple: internal affairs is to police officers as police officers are to normal citizens.  

In movies and TV they call IA officers "The Rat Squad" and other insults, but IA is just there to find and punish the criminals.  

So it would seem to me that a cop who hates IA is the same as a citizen who hates cops.  Right?  How could a cop justify hating IA while expecting citizens to like and respect him?

I don't hate them.  Our IA is not a volunteer gig.  Everyone in there is serving a term.  Every time I've been pulled in there, I was treated fairly and investgations were done right.  All the cases in which cops got sustained on, that I'm aware of, they legitimately screwed up and got mostly what they deserved.  In the few cases when they got more than what was fair, it was only after the politicans and oversight committees outside the department stuck their fingers in.

Now that makes sense.  It's a shame that TV and movies makes it out like all cops loath IA if it's not true.

Been there twice.  Both times was no issue.  One time I fucked up but didn't do what someone accused me of doing(but I fucked up by putting myself in the situation to begin with)

Other time was a bullshit complaint over a car wreck.

Both times were handled great.  I have no issues with the guys that do it.  I don't really know any of them so whatever.  They are the ones to take care of the garbage.

For tv, it adds to the drama.  

The only time we get investigated in an IA is if you've been accused of something rather egregious. Normal disciplinary action is handled by our supervisors (Sgt's, typically, which then goes through an. LT and signed off by the patrol Commander).  I guess the only resentment is when you are actually being investigated, but what normal citizen likes being investigated for a crime anyways? Lol

Tv is about the drama. No drama = no interest

I don't hate IA.  It's also not the job of the police to punish criminals. Were merely introduce them into the criminal justice system by enforcement of the laws.

No issues here. Nobody hates a dirty cop more than an honest cop.

Thanks for clearing that up gentlemen.

nvm

Most do, yet all IADs are not the same.

Ours is a extension of an already corrupt, politically charged system. If you have the right connections the dogs get called off. If you dont then they will probably not even investigate before flushing you down the toilet.

For the most part, with us, they are ladder climbers who are an extension of what command wants. Not what is right, what is wrong, what is an honest fair investigation. Why else does such a high % of promotions come from the seat warmers at HQ compared to the actual police on the street? Plus I think a lot of them are stupid to begin with.

The ones with morals who actually try and do the right thing I commend. At least I will when I meet one. Im tired of these knuckleheads pulling stunts and making us all look like idiots too, but Ive seen FAR to much corruption and inequity in the discipline process to believe in the Tooth Fairy anymore.

IA was hated at my job. One of the guys from my precinct got promoted and then later volunteered to go to IA.
A few years after he was in the precinct for an investigation and went up to a bunch of his old co-workers to say hi and everyone walked away from him without saying a word.

As others have said there are ia's and then there are IA's.

Some are simply doing there job and try to be above board.

Others not so much.  They are controlled by the agency politics and what happened is less important than getting the results they think the boss wants.  You can also get the mall cop wanna be's who couldn't hack dealing with the job and went to IA and now are power trippin' like mad over the street cops.

Another factor in how the rest of the department feels about IA is what they spend their time doing.  Are they dealing with OIS, citizen complaints and corruption?  Or are they running around investigating petty bullshit like Officer so and so did not have his hat in when he exited his cruiser?

You put it much more eloquently and less likely to bite you in the rear than my first attempt.  My experience is very different than those of the posters above my initial post, but I am not a golden boy nor am I a dirty cop.  Good police work results in complaints when those who are arrested realize that they can manipulate both the departments IA and ultimately the patrolmen who work their areas by inundating them with unfounded complaints that cannot be proven or disproven.  My department will not call a complainant a liar (much less file criminal charges for filing a false report) even when a blind man could see it, therefore many of these baseless complaints are sustained.

We had a separate unit for stuff like that, though our IA did other bs like run their low level stings to see if cops followed procedure.

Brilliant!

What a great way to keep morale up, having guys from your own department sneaking around trying to fuck you.

Not a fan.

My favorite was the guy who walked up to me and my Sgt. and handed us a wallet he "found" with money and a pair of earrings in it. As he was walking away I said "Thanks for the 3 different forms I now have to type out Detective".

Come to think I never once knew a IAD that was really The Police on the street. Most were ass kissers, do nothings, pussies.

Guy from my plainclothes unit volunteered to work there when he made Sgt. for the specialist pay and OT.

I used to work for a smaller department and was a detective for a number of years.  I got tasked with most of the internal investigations.  I always did them fairly and impartially.  I had an officer that I had to do an investigation on and he had screwed me over repeatedly and had the chief's ear for everything.  I could have twisted the investigation(allegations of excessive force)  but I didn't.  I looked at everything and all the evidence pointed to the fact that the officer didn't do anything wrong (this time).   I presented my findings to the chief and the allegations were unsubstantiated.  

On the other hand, I was involved with another investigation with another officer who was being screwed over by the officer above.  Completed the investigation (fairly) and ALL the evidence supported the officer's innocence.  My boss and I presented that to the chief....and the officer was placed on 6 months probation......how the fuck does that work?  The problem was, the chief liked the officer who pushed the complaint but didn't like the officer who got the complaint filed on him.  So, basically the chief arbitrarily ignored the results of a complete investigation EVEN after the initial complainant's story changed.  

I have other stories too of how we did internal investigations and found zero evidence to support the allegations.....only to see the chief turn around and punish the officer for something completely undeserved.  

I left that department