Office of Professional Standards
Office of the Chief
The Huntington Police Department places a high value on integrity and public trust. This office safeguards the level of trust and confidence the public has in its police department and ensures our agency remains deserving of that trust. We also ensure that the rights of our employees are protected and all persons involved in an inquiry are treated with dignity and respect. The office is also responsible for departmental inspections, maintenance of personnel files, and policy and procedure review. The Huntington Police Department has more than 100 General Orders to follow as detailed in the HPD General Orders Manual.
Complaint Investigations
The HPD General Orders Manual covers broad categories of behavior and performance expectations to which we hold employees accountable. Complaints about employee misconduct are classified in two ways: external (citizen complaint) and internal (initiated by Command staff, administrative review, or from another officer.)
The Huntington Police Department makes every effort to investigate and adjudicate all complaints in the most expedient time frame as possible. However, there are circumstances, such as case complexity and/or witness unavailability, which can delay the process. There are five ways an allegation can be adjudicated—sustained, not sustained, unfounded, exonerated and withdrawn.
The goal of the department is to apply progressive disciplinary action to ensure misconduct will not recur. Disciplinary action can range from counseling to employee termination. In some cases employees may also receive additional training in the subject areas where violations have occurred.
Use of Force
Police officers are trained to seek voluntary compliance in their lawful direction, however, they are sometimes met with circumstances in which a subject’s actions compel them to use force in order to gain compliance or defend themselves or others against serious injury or death. Supervisors are required to complete a “Use of Force Report” any time force is used.
Employee Motor Vehicle Collisions
In order to provide police services throughout the 17 square miles of the city of Huntington, Huntington Police Department employees drive a significant number of miles in HPD vehicles. Officers drive their vehicles in all types of weather, traffic and emergency conditions, day and night.
The Huntington Police Department investigates all traffic crashes and operational damage incidents occurring to police vehicles. Each quarter, the Office of Professional Standards convenes a Crash Review Board to conduct a fair and complete review of the accidents to determine if the accident was preventable or non-preventable. Progressive disciplinary action is administered to all employees involved in preventable accidents. Discipline ranges from counseling to Termination.
