The mission of the Office of Internal Affairs is to maintain and enhance the integrity of the Virginia Beach Police Department through the full, fair and objective investigation of allegations of misconduct on the part of police department personnel and the work of the Accreditation Office. Additionally, the Office of Internal Affairs provides the Chief of Police and his staff with information to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of the daily operation of the police department. This is accomplished by, but not limited to, formal inspections, informal inspections, and observations of on-going police operations.
The Office of Internal Affairs is a fact finding body only and is not responsible for adjudicating matters which it has investigated. The Office of Internal Affairs conducts administrative investigations only. Any allegations that may result in criminal charges being placed against a police department employee are first investigated by the appropriate criminal investigative office. Completed investigations are forwarded to the appropriate command for review and recommendations. The final disposition is subject to the approval of the Chief of Police.
It is the policy of the Virginia Beach Police Department to investigate all complaints of alleged employee misconduct to equitably determine the validity of the allegations. The primary responsibility for maintaining and reinforcing employee conformance with the standards of conduct of the Virginia Beach Police Department is with the first line supervisor and the employee. All supervisors in the Department will make every reasonable effort to facilitate the courteous and prompt receipt and processing of citizen complaints.
Once a complaint has been finalized, the complainant will be notified of the Police Department's findings in writing by the Commanding Officer of the Office of Internal Affairs. Complainants that are not satisfied with those findings may request a review by the Virginia Beach Investigative Review Panel within 15 calendar days from the date that the Police Department findings are mailed to the complainant. For further information, please contact the Department of Human Resources, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., at (757) 385-8374.
The Accreditation Office is tasked with ensuring that Department policies and procedures are based on current national standards and best practices. Accreditation ensures that policy and practice are aligned through the use of Departmental inspections and compliance with the 479 standards of the Advanced Accreditation criteria as outlined by the
Commission of Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA).