POBAR simply affords an accused officer of fair treatment during the investigation as well as due process during the punishment phase, should the investigation sustain allegations of misconduct.
One of the assignments during my career included working Internal Affairs investigations. The investigative procedures that governed my role conducting IA’s in California is codified under Government Code Sections 3300-3313. There is nothing in the Government Code (or case law) that protects dirty cops. Just like safeguards are in place for an accused individual during a criminal procedure, a police officer is no less valuable than any member of society. Therefore, the agency is required to “play by the rules” if they desire to fire an officer for allegations of misconduct. … And it happens all the time.
However, whether it’s a criminal investigation or civil proceedings, any process that eliminates due process is ripe for harsh criticism and admonishment when the case reaches court. Attorneys make a living defending people who’ve had their due process rights violated. Yet that is what rabid activists demand when it comes to the police. It’s as if officers are sub-human, so civility and due process are out of the question.
Maj. Travis Yates authored “America, We Are Leaving,” which reflected his thoughts regarding the current onslaught of law enforcement in the country. The piece has gone viral reaching more than 2.1 million readers as of Saturday morning. Moreover, it has come on the heels of news organizations simultaneously defaming him by taking prior statements out of context and failing to acknowledge well-respected sources he’s used when speaking as an expert on matters of policing.
“I wouldn’t wish this job on my worst enemy,” Yates wrote. “I would never send anyone I cared about into the hell that this profession has become … I used to talk cops out of leaving the job. Now I’m encouraging them. It’s over, America. You finally did it You aren’t going to have to abolish the police, we won’t be around for it.”
“Officers are afraid to speak out, they are afraid to talk,” Yates said on the Tucker Carlson show Friday. “You are only your next call away from being canceled or destroyed, and so officers feel very limited. I think citizens do, too, and we had just as many citizens comment on that article and send us emails.”
Yates speaks the truth as we’ve already seen officers beginning to resign and retire en masse due to the hotbed of race relations, with American law enforcement taking far more heat and criticism than deserved.
