C. Giving Officers A Script to Work Off
Illinois requires transcripts of any interrogation of police officers be made available to the officer interrogated without “undue delay.” In Maryland, a recording or transcription of an interrogation must be made available to the interrogated officer no later than ten days before any subsequent hearing. Cleveland's CBA requires any recording, transcript, or written statement produced as the result of an interview be available immediately after the interview, unless it is pursuant to a criminal investigation. Chicago authorities have seventy-two hours to provide interviewed cops with a transcript or recording of their interview unless that same officer is re-interrogated within that 72-hour window. In that case, the transcript or recording must be provided before the follow-up interrogation.
In a survey of LEOBOR provisions, Keenan and Walker dismiss these requirements as “constitut[ing] a basic right,” without providing any support for that assertion. Were such a requirement a “basic right” in the public-employee due process context, it seems to be unmentioned in the requirements of notice and a hearing laid out in Cleveland Bd. of Educ. v. Loudermill and its ilk. No such “basic right” exists in the criminal context, though suspects in criminal investigations would certainly enjoy being able to review their statements to police in hours-long interviews before being interviewed again or testifying; such a reference would help the suspect keep their story straight. The Cleveland CBA's exclusion of this requirement in the context of a criminal investigation concedes this is not a “basic right.”
Giving interviewed officers copies or recordings of their words ensures they have a script to work from if interviewed by investigators or have some other hearing. Chicago's provision, in particular, makes this purpose clear: by not allowing officers to be re-interviewed without seeing the story they had previously given investigators, the Chicago FOP ensures statements stay consistent. When coupled with waiting periods before interviews, the script is sure to be well-rehearsed. These two provisions transparently give cops an opportunity to get their stories straight before being interviewed about potential misdeeds, an opportunity they would rightly never give an average citizen. These provisions do not protect employees from menacing management, and they certainly do not further any truth-finding mission. They plainly ensure that officers facing questions about their actions have time to formulate a story and then a script to help them stick to that story.
