Efficient and Effective Use of Public Resources

Investigations should be conducted within budget and use the appropriate number of personnel (avoiding “undermanning” or “overmanning”). More generally, the resources used should be appropriate to the investigations—there should, for example, be appropriate use of resource-intensive intrusive surveillance methods. The larger context for the efficient and effective use of public resources by investigators is the overall quantum of resources made available to the police organization by government. Naturally, appropriate resourcing of investigations cannot be achieved absent the existence of adequate resources within the police organization, or at least within the investigative division of the police organization. Accordingly, an important concern will be the system for allocating scarce resources within the police organization as a whole, as well as within the internal affairs department itself.

Communication with Stakeholders

Complainant surveys and interviews show that complainants place a very high value on being kept informed of the progress of their case. Lack of communication is a major factor in high levels of complainant dissatisfaction (Landau 1994; Maguire and Corbett 1991). Other stakeholders, such as the police officers being investigated, also have an obvious stake in, or right to, adequate communication (see above, Respect for Rights of Suspects).