What Role Should Internal Affairs Play?
Internal Affairs should not own the entire AI governance program.
Governance belongs to executive leadership, supported by legal counsel, information technology, information security, records personnel, training staff, procurement, and operational commanders.
Internal Affairs still has an important role.
IA should:
Identify unapproved AI use discovered during investigations
Determine whether AI affected an employee statement, report, or case file
Audit compliance with approved-use requirements
Document technology-related policy failures
Identify recurring supervisory or organizational weaknesses
Report systemic concerns to executive leadership
Recommend policy, training, or control changes
Internal Affairs should also distinguish between intentional misconduct and organizational failure.
An employee who knowingly enters confidential information into a prohibited system presents one issue.
An employee who uses a common tool because the agency never issued guidance presents another.
Both require review.
They do not always require the same response.
IA should investigate misuse. Executive leadership must prevent unmanaged use.
Monday Morning Action
Ask these questions during your next command, legal, technology, or Professional Standards meeting:
Do we have a complete list of every AI system used for agency work?
Do employees know which systems are approved?
Does every approved system have a named business owner?
Do we know what information each system collects, stores, or shares?
Do we document when AI touches an official report or investigative file?
Does every system have a scheduled review date?
Do we have a process for suspending or retiring a system?
Would we know how to respond if an attorney requested records of AI use in a specific case?
If leadership cannot answer these questions with documentation, the agency does not have an AI governance program.
It has isolated technology use without organizational control.
Policy Takeaway
Your agency’s first AI policy should not begin with discipline.
It should begin with control.
Before leadership regulates how employees use artificial intelligence, leadership must decide:
Which systems the agency approves
What information employees may enter
Who owns each system
What records the agency retains
How employees verify AI-assisted work
How supervisors review the final product
How the agency audits compliance
When the agency suspends or retires a system
The first step is not enforcement.
The first step is inventory.
Strengthen Your Agency’s Policy Framework
Does your agency need stronger policies for artificial intelligence, Internal Affairs, employee investigations, due process, or technology governance?
Review national training programs designed for public safety executives, Internal Affairs commanders, investigators, supervisors, and public-sector HR professionals.
Visit InternalAffairsTraining.com to explore available training and resources.
