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Manual of Policy and Procedures / Volume 3 - Policy and Ethics / Chapter 9 - Miscellaneous Administrative Procedures

3-09/330.00 - Critical Incident Review Panel


3-09/325.00 - Case Review Committee
3-09/330.05 - Shooting Analysis Committee

Professional Standards Division (PSD) manages and maintains administrative responsibility for the Critical Incident Review Panel (CIRP).  The CIRP shall be comprised of three commanders, and shall perform timely preliminary risk management and professional best practice analysis of critical incidents, such as:

  • Deputy-involved shootings;
  • In-custody deaths in the patrol environment;
  • Any application of deadly force; or
  • Any other major incident identified by the CIRP, the Sheriff, or Department executives holding the rank of captain/director or above.

The CIRP shall identify and implement (where appropriate) risk management strategies to ensure best practices and limit the Department’s exposure to liability.

CIRP Panel Members

Commander Selection

Three commanders designated by the Sheriff or their designee and a designated alternate commander shall be empaneled.  A commander designated by the Sheriff or their designee shall chair the CIRP.  A commander will not be empaneled to hear an incident from his/her own division.

CIRP Panel Participants

The Critical Incident Review process is privileged and confidential; therefore, participants shall be limited to the following personnel or designated unit representative:

Executive Offices (for executive oversight and Department accountability)

            Office of the Sheriff

  • Audit and Accountability Bureau (AAB) captain and/or designee(s)
  • Constitutional Policing Advisor
  • Los Angeles County Counsel

Office of the Assistant Sheriffs

  • Assistant Sheriff(s)

Professional Standards Division (personnel and risk management accountability)

  • Designated CIRP commanders
  • Division chief and/or commander
  • Executive Force Review Committee (EFRC) chairperson
  • Internal Affairs Bureau (IAB) captain and/or designated lieutenant and concerned investigators
  • Internal Criminal Investigations Bureau (ICIB) captain (as needed)
  • Representative(s) from Risk Management Bureau

Concerned Division (chain of command responsibility/accountability)

  • Division chief and/or commander
  • Unit commander
  • Training sergeant and master field training officer (MFTO), except Shooting Analysis Committee (SAC) reviews, section 3-09/330.10

Special Operations Division (tactical/special investigations advisory)

  • Unit commander of the Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB) and/or designated lieutenant
  • Unit commander of the Emergency Operations Bureau (EOB) (as needed)
  • Unit commander of the Criminal Intelligence Bureau (CIB) (as needed)

Detective Division (investigative command responsibility/accountability)

  • Concerned unit commander and/or designated lieutenant
  • Assigned investigator(s)

Administrative Services Division responsibility/accountability)

  • Representative from Psychological Services Bureau (as needed)

Personnel Command responsibility/accountability

  • Training Bureau unit commander and/or designated lieutenant

CIRP Process

The CIRP shall meet weekly, or as needed, at a time and place designated by the chairperson.  Absent extenuating circumstances, the CIRP will analyze incidents occurring within the previous week.  The assigned investigator(s) shall present an overview of the incident.  Information from the concerned division chief, concerned area commander, concerned unit commander, and/or any of the other assembled experts may supplement the presentation.

The CIRP shall not determine whether the incident was within existing policy nor shall the CIRP recommend disciplinary action.  The specific intent of the CIRP is to identify risk management concerns related to policy, training, tactics, current Department practice, and/or the actions of the employee(s) involved in the critical incident. 

The review and analysis of each critical incident shall be completely objective and in the best interest of the Department, Department members, and communities we serve.  Actions/Recommendations by the CIRP shall not preclude the EFRC from taking additional remedial actions as a result of its independent analysis.

The CIRP shall reach a majority decision regarding proposed remedial measures and make its recommendation to the concerned division chief(s) and the concerned assistant sheriff(s).  Absent the chief(s) and assistant sheriff(s) concurrence, the Sheriff shall make a final decision.

The CIRP has authority to direct a temporary restriction and/or reassignment of involved personnel as outlined in this section.

Critical Incidents

Upon preliminary and subsequent analysis, and in collaboration with county counsel, the CIRP will identify any risk issues and, where appropriate, implement risk management/remedial measures.  Risk management/remedial measures may include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Promulgating and distributing training bulletins;
  • Scheduling involved personnel for immediate (non-punitive) training (rather than waiting for the conclusion of the investigation and/or EFRC process);
  • Expediting an early response from the Civil Litigation Unit for the settlement of potential claims;
  • Reassignment (permanent or temporary) of involved personnel;
  • Identifying deficiencies in Department policy/protocols, training, and/or training curricula;
  • Recommending an expedited investigation to accelerate the EFRC process; and/or,
  • Recommending the concerned unit commander initiate a community outreach effort to dispel rumors, correct inaccurate information, or address general concerns.

Department Shooting Incident

For deputy-involved shootings that are reviewed by the CIRP, all critical incident CIRP measures articulated in section 3-09/330.00, Critical Incident Review Panel, shall be followed including:

  • Involved employees shall be placed into a Preventive Action Plan (PAP), section 3-09/330.10, as directed by the CIRP.  This process shall be completed prior to the employee being returned to regular field duty; and
  • All employees involved in a current shooting incident under review by the SAC shall be removed from regular field duty until the CIRP process is completed.

When Department members are involved in a third or subsequent shooting, or when a shooting incident necessitates an immediate assessment of tactics, training, and/or risk management factors, the CIRP will convene a SAC review, section 3-09/330.05.  Additionally, a SAC review may be ordered for any shooting at the direction of the Sheriff or their designee.

In instances wherein temporary reassignment and/or restriction of involved personnel is deemed necessary, section 3-02/040.41, Administrative Reassignment of Personnel – Loans, shall be followed.  If reassignment is approved by the designated assistant sheriff, the matter shall be referred to the Performance Mentoring Committee for review and further assessment.

If it is determined that a reassignment is necessary, that information shall be documented in a memorandum from the CIRP chairperson to the Risk Management Bureau captain.  This memorandum shall be entered into the Performance Recording and Monitoring System (PRMS) under the employee’s Special Conditions module and accessible for review by authorized supervisory personnel. 

Administrative Monitoring

PSD shall have overall administrative responsibility and control of the CIRP process.  Responsibilities of the PSD include:

  • Scheduling the CIRP meeting(s);
  • Maintaining the tracking of CIRP activities and follow-up; and
  • Completing, distributing, and archiving CIRP related documentation (e.g., CIRP decisions, recommendations, action taken, and PRMS information entry into the Special Conditions module).

The concerned unit commander is responsible for creating the Preliminary Data Entry (PDE) for the Special Conditions module for the concerned employee so that information can be entered by the Risk Management Bureau.

The decisions of the CIRP shall be forwarded via official Department memorandum from the CIRP chairperson to the concerned employee’s division chief.  The concerned division chief shall be responsible for ensuring that the concerned employee(s) is notified of the CIRP decision by the concerned unit commander, who shall provide a copy of the memo to the concerned employee(s).

The concerned unit commander shall be responsible for initiating and completing all assigned risk management/remedial measures within the allotted time prescribed by the CIRP and for reporting to the CIRP once they have been completed.

The concerned unit commander shall be responsible for initiating and completing all assigned PAP risk management/remedial measures within the allotted time prescribed by the CIRP and for reporting to the CIRP once they have been completed.

All records and documentation supporting the completion (or non-completion) of assigned PAP risk management/remedial measures shall be forwarded to the CIRP for review.  If actions of risk management/remedial measures are analyzed and found to be unacceptable, additional measures may be ordered to fulfill the measure(s).