Officer-Involved Shooting Investigations

The investigation into an officer-involved shooting involves many agencies and reviews. There is a criminal investigation by an outside agency, an internal investigation by BPD’s Office of Internal Affairs (OIA), a training and policy review by BPD Commanders and an independent investigation by the City of Boise’s Office of Police Accountability (OPA), which is a separate office from BPD and reports directly to the Mayor and Council.

BPD remains committed to transparency, but we also must ensure that the public release of information does not impede the confidentiality and impartiality of these separate investigations or any future prosecutions on criminal charges.

Response Process

Investigation by the Ada County Critical Incident Task Force

Immediately following an officer-involved shooting, the Ada County Critical Incident Task Force (CITF) is activated to investigate.

What is the CITF?

The CITF is made up of qualified detectives from each law enforcement agency in Ada County. CITF participating agencies include the Boise Police Department, Meridian Police Department, Garden City Police Department, Ada County Sheriff’s Office, and Idaho State Police. Detectives from an uninvolved agency are assigned lead on a rotating basis. Detectives from the involved agency still participate but don’t take a lead role in any critical areas. The completed investigation is then sent to a Prosecuting Attorney outside of Ada County for a criminal review of the officers’ actions.

Investigative Process

• The involved officers are sequestered and evidence, including weapons, is collected.
• The involved officers are separated until detectives have completed their preliminary interviews.
• The assigned detectives are in charge of conducting a meticulous investigation including interviews, forensic analysis of the evidence, collection of video surveillance, etc.
• Any available on-body camera video is provided to the CITF. 
• The Director of the Office of Police Accountability is immediately notified and may respond to the location.
• If there is a fatality, the Ada County Coroner responds to the location of the deceased and conducts an independent investigation of the body.

News Media are Proactively Notified

• News media are provided with updates as soon as possible after a critical incident
• The names of the involved BPD officers are provided in a news release once certain internal notifications and other security plans are in place
• BPD works with the CITF regarding any release of details, photos, and videos so as not to interfere with their investigation. 
• On-body video is generally made available for public release by the Boise Police Department at the conclusion of the CITF investigation and after all prosecutorial needs are met to ensure a fair trial in the event of criminal charges against an officer or the suspect.

Psychological Consultation

• In every critical incident, the involved officers are relieved from duty to provide an opportunity for peer counseling and a psychological evaluation.

Internal Boise Police Department Investigation

• The Boise Police Department’s Office of Internal Affairs conducts a separate internal investigation to determine whether BPD policies and procedures were followed.
• The internal investigation is conducted by two civilian
• BPD also analyzes training, policy, and crime trends as part of the internal review.

Independent Investigation by the Office of Police Accountability (OPA)

• Following a critical incident, OPA conducts a mandatory independent investigation.
• The Director of the OPA is responsible for reviewing critical incident investigations conducted by the CITF and OIA, and may retain outside investigators as needed.
• OPA operates completely independently of BPD and reports directly to the Mayor and Council,
• Following an OPA review of a critical incident, findings are presented to the Mayor and Boise City Council. The OPA Director may advise city leaders on concerns, areas of improvement, and recommended changes in BPD’s response.