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Policy 801 - Early Intervention System

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I. Purpose:

A comprehensive Personnel Early Intervention
System is an essential component of good discipline in
a well-managed law enforcement department. The Early
Intervention System is a supervisory tool and not a
disciplinary process. The early identification of
employees exhibiting symptoms of stress or other
behavior that could pose a liability to the community,
the Department, or the officer, must be detected as
soon as possible. When appropriate, an intervention
consisting of a menu of remedial actions can increase
department accountability and offer employees a better
opportunity to meet the department's values and mission
statement. This non-disciplinary system aids in
identifying employees who may be experiencing personal
or professional difficulties so that the employee may
be assisted with corrective action steps to resolve
these difficulties before a crisis occurs.

II. Policy:

It is the policy of this department to utilize
an Early Intervention System to identify department
employees who may require intervention efforts. The
system should identify patterns of behavior that might
be symptomatic and indicate that an individual employee
requires an intervention.

III. Definitions

A. Early Intervention System (EIS): A management tool
designed to identify employees whose performance
exhibits potential problems, and then to provide
interventions, usually counseling or training, to
correct those performance problems. Early
Intervention Systems have emerged as an effective
mechanism for enhancing accountability within law
enforcement agencies.

IV. Procedure

A. The EIS will be maintained by the Chief of Police
or their designee.

B. The system should review at a minimum:

  • i. Complaints;
  • ii. Incidents involving use of force;
  • iii. Shooting incidents;
  • iv. Use of sick leave;
  • v. Preventable accidents;
  • vi. Domestic misconduct incidents;
  • vii. Civil litigation;
  • viii. Performance evaluations; and
  • ix. Commendations.

C. Programs of this type rely heavily on first and
second level supervisors who will continually
monitor the above data for each employee.
Supervisors should indicate the review on each
evaluation and be prepared to initiate the system
whenever a trend or pattern emerges indicating an
employee may be in need of assistance.

D. It is the responsibility of the identified
employee's chain of command to provide a written
recommendation for appropriate action to correct
any identified deficiencies. The recommended
actions could include the following:

  • i. No further action required. The employee's
    actions that triggered the EIS have been
    thoroughly reviewed and do not indicate any
    concern for corrective action;
  • ii. Supervisory Counseling;
  • iii. Periods of observation in the field by the first line supervisor;
  • iv. Peer Counseling;
  • v. Referral to the Employee Assistance Program (if applicable);
  • vi. Referral to psychological services;
  • vii. Referral for remedial training;
  • viii. Re-assignment;
  • ix. Referral for anger management training;
  • x. Referral for stress reduction training; and
  • xi. Other action as deemed appropriate.

E. Process: Once the recommended action plan is
discussed with the employee and approved by the
chain of command, the intervention will begin.
Results will be reported in writing to the entity
charged with the responsibility for maintaining
the system. A follow-up component will be
established in the action plan to ensure the
behavior that triggered the intervention is no
longer a concern.