What an internal investigation means following a police shooting incident

A deputy shooting in Walkertown on Monday left an individual in the hospital and set in motion an internal investigation. 

According to a press release from the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office, the person who was shot is listed in stable condition. 

Two deputies are currently presumed innocent and have been placed on administrative leave for the time being. The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) will lead an investigation into the incident.

Wake Forest University Law Professor Mark Rabil says this has been standard practice for decades.

"The State Bureau of Investigation will then come in and interview the officers and they’ll look at body cam footage, they’ll listen to the 911 recordings — you know, whatever the witnesses had to say originally. And their goal is to try to determine from the point of view of the officers, did they have a reasonable basis to use deadly force," says Rabil.

Rabil says the SBI report is later passed on to the district attorney who decides whether criminal charges should be brought. That information is also used by the local law enforcement department to decide whether its own internal procedures were followed or violated.