| Legal Unit | Internal Affairs Section | Public Information Office |
Organizational Chart (PDF)

Legal Unit
The Police Legal Unit operates at Staff level and answers directly to the Office of the Chief of Police. The unit consists of two full-time attorneys and a legal secretary and has the following responsibilities:

• Provide legal advice on Department issues to all members on an as-needed basis.
• Review personnel issues and recommend procedures to resolve problems.
• Assist Internal Affairs, Special Investigations, Narcotics, and other special units as requested.
• Attend shooting investigations involving department members.
• Liaison with other police agencies, the courts, prosecutors, and federal agencies.
• Develop comprehensive in-service training programs and aids.
• Draft contracts, ordinances, and intergovernmental agreements.
• Publish Police Law articles.
• Remain current in all Arizona, 9th Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court decisions as well as new legislation and ensure that policies comply.
• Review and suggest resolution of claims against the department.
• Provide guidance regarding public records law.
• Make presentations to the Police Committee and the City Council.

Internal Affairs Section
The Internal Affairs Section receives and ensures the timely investigation of complaints alleging inadequate customer service, misconduct, or unlawful actions by any Mesa Police Department employee. A lieutenant and three sergeants staff this section.

The Polygraph Section is comprised of two polygraph examiners who conduct examinations for select internal and criminal investigations. The examiners also conduct pre-employment polygraphs. The section administered 723 exams in 2001.

Public Information Office
The Public Information Office (PIO) is comprised of a sergeant, two detectives and a special events coordinator. The Public Information Officers (PIOs) serve as liaisons between the department and the media on behalf of the Chief of Police. The sergeant and detectives assigned to this position typically respond to major crime scenes and other incidents, and maintain an office where media representatives receive information regarding police incidents.

The PIOs also alert the media to innovative programs initiated by the department and offer responses to their inquiries. They also schedule press conferences as needed for major news releases. All of the PIOs are active members of the National Information Officers' Association. The Special Events Coordinator handles all special events in which the Mesa Police Department is involved, including: Cops & Robbers Golf Tournament, Law Enforcement Torch Run, W. Steven Martin Police Toy Drive, and many others.

The PIO has been a strong proponent of re-forming an association of PIOs from agencies in the Phoenix area. The Mesa Police Department hosted one of these meetings and is in regular attendance at others to stay informed of current trends. Mesa is in the process of co-hosting a Media Day at its Training Facility, which will be coordinated with the other Valley agency PIOs.

The PIO has added a third officer to the unit. This has allowed the unit to be more pro-active. There is always one PIO on-call now, allowing the others to work on pro-active news stores. The PIO regularly meets with the various police department units to learn of events in which the media might be interested. Countless stories about the police department were generated out of this office during the past year -- stories that the public never would have known, had it not been for the relationships that have been developed with the media.

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