Ex. NYAG - Law Enforcement Misconduct Investigations and Oversight

The Law Enforcement Oversight and Accountability Seminar and Externship at the New York State Office of the Attorney General (OAG) is an intensive study of law enforcement accountability in New York. It is comprised of two related components: a weekly seminar and an externship at the OAG’s Civil Rights Bureau (CRB) and Law Enforcement Misconduct Investigative Office (LEMIO). Each week in the seminar, we will discuss a substantive area of police oversight and accountability and/or a related lawyering skill. In the first half of the semester, we will explore the history of policing, the role of policing today, police accountability and oversight structures, and challenges to effective change. We will ground our discussions in the relevant laws and will dedicate time to a thorough understanding of the applicable legal standards. In the second half of the semester, we will focus on building lawyering skills relevant to police accountability, including how to: effectively engage communities, interview complainants and witnesses, draft compelling complaints, conduct investigations, write findings reports, and understand available remedies. The second component of the course is an externship with two OAG bureaus tasked with preventing, investigating, and remedying law enforcement misconduct, CRB and LEMIO. You will have hands-on experience applying the theoretical principles we discuss in the seminar to the investigations of police and correctional departments. Students may also be asked to assist with other discrete CRB projects that implicate relevant civil rights but are not directly related to law enforcement accountability (e.g., housing, education).