Reporting Workplace Violence Incidents and Investigations

All County employees are encouraged to use the online Workplace Violence Incident Reporting Form to report incidents. Employees may also report workplace violence incidents through their chain of command or to DPS. Regardless of the reporting method, all employees shall be encouraged to report incidents without fear of retaliation.  All reports or threats of workplace violence shall be documented.

All information and documents obtained from the incident reporting form and during the course of an investigation will be treated as confidential to the fullest extent possible and only shared with those on a need-to-know basis.

Employees who experience or witness workplace violence will  be contacted for an intake or an investigative interview in a timely manner.   

All reported incidents shall be reviewed and investigated promptly by one of the following:

• CMT (Critical Management Team) is responsible for investigating Type 1, Type 2, Type 3, and Type 4 incidents.
• DPS (Department of Personnel Services) is responsible for investigating Type 3 incidents.
• Outside Investigators may also investigate Type 3 incidents.

The Sheriff's Office conducts investigations that involve criminal allegations; however, this does not replace the required administrative investigation that must be conducted by either CMT, DPS, or an Outside Investigator. Outside Investigators are used at the recommendation of the County Counsel and DPS and approved by the Department Director or designee when a conflict of interest may exist should a County employee investigate the incident.

Following an investigation, a closure letter will be provided to the employees who reported the incident stating the outcome of the investigation and any corrective measures to be taken by the Department.

All investigative reports must be submitted to DPS via the Workplace Violence Investigation Completion Form within thirty (30) days of completion.