This course is designed to provide you with generic foundational skills when you conduct civil investigations. Given the variety of attendees coming from several agencies with different investigative missions, this course will not focus on individual agency/division specific investigative related RCWs, WACs, or policies & procedures.

This course has been designed for state employees with investigative responsibilities. It will provide you with basic, yet generic and widely applicable concepts, skills, and techniques needed to properly conduct an investigation from its beginning to its conclusion.

Objectives: Upon completion of this course you will have received training in the following areas:

• Scope of authority
• Ethics
• Complaint analysis
• Investigative planning & strategy
• Rights of entry
• Subpoena authority
• Civil warrants
• Tort and personal liability for errors
• Interviewing techniques
• Respecting constitutional rights
• Gathering, documenting, and maintaining evidence
• Dealing with aggressive behavior and minimizing physical risk
• Non-use of firearms and other weapons
• Preparing and writing reports
• Referrals
• Public disclosure and confidentiality
• Investigator testimony

Competencies covered in this course: Interviewing and researching.

Intended Audience: Public sector employees who conduct civil investigations including employees whose jobs involve routine internal, administrative investigations of alleged employee wrongdoing.

NOTE: This course is NOT intended for employees WHO ARE NOT ROUTINELY ASSIGNED INVESTIGATIVE RESPONSIBILITIES. Supervisors and managers who may at sometime during their career occasionally be asked to conduct, or assist in, an internal administrative investigation of employee wrongdoing, should consult with their Human Resources Office staff.