Ombudsman: Consider removing unit probing police misconduct from prosecutor’s office
In annual report, state comptroller warns of conflicts of interest due to PIID’s ‘institutional association’ with State Attorney’s Office that could undercut its independence
State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman on Tuesday called on the country’s leadership to consider removing the body tasked with probing police misconduct from the aegis of the State Attorney’s Office, warning of potential conflicts of interest that hamper its independence.
The recommendation was included in a section of his annual report looking into the Police Internal Investigations Department (PIID) and Israel Police’s handling of complaints against officers, most of which Englman said “are not examined at the relevant levels.”
According to the ombudsman, the PIID closed 55 percent of the 5,356 cases on which it made a final decision in 2021 without contacting police officials to ask whether a specific case couldn’t have been dealt with without law enforcement involvement.
Englman’s report raised issues with the organizational structures of the bodies that deal with complaints, saying “the institutional association” of the PIID with the State Attorney’s Office and of the police’s disciplinary department with the manpower directorate “influence their ability to ensure full functional independence.”
Noting the close cooperation between prosecutors and police in law enforcement, Englman cited the possibility of an “institutional conflict of interest” in certain cases when PIID investigates officers.
He also highlighted problems in the relationship between the PIID and police, noting that the former doesn’t have its own training courses and is dependent on the police to allocate slots in the classes they teach. He said that police have refused to open up courses on interrogation to PIID investigators.
According to Englman, the PIID doesn’t have full access to police information databases with “the relevant investigatory materials for investigating officers,” such as body camera footage or recordings of calls to the police emergency number.
Other problems cited by Englman were a lack of necessary equipment for investigators and the use of police officers to fill manpower shortages in the PIID’s investigations and intelligence wing, among others.
Englman suggested that Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara should lead groundwork on the matter that includes a comparison of Israel’s system for handling complaints against police “to different models that exist in other countries… with an emphasis on the need for ensuring a comprehensive, systematic, efficient and independent treatment.”
The state comptroller added that the findings of Baharav-Miara’s work should then be sent to Justice Minister Yariv Levin and National Police Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, all three of whom he said “need to examine, in cooperation with the PIID and the police, the failings outlined in this report and work to fix them.”
Responding to the report, the Justice Ministry sent out a statement on Baharav-Miara’s behalf saying she would “learn it and act to implement it.” She added that some issues raised in the report were already being looked into or dealt with by PIID.
She also noted Englman did not explicitly call for PIID to no longer be under the authority of prosecutors.
The report came after the Knesset in February gave initial backing to a bill that would place the PIID under the direct control of the justice minister, as part of the government’s efforts to overhaul the judicial system.
The PIID is currently tasked with investigating suspected crimes committed by police officers and employees of the Shin Bet security agency, and can in certain cases conduct criminal and disciplinary investigations into wrongdoing by civil service employees. Under the proposed law, the PIID’s powers would be expanded to allow probes into state prosecutors and the state attorney, led by a new unit.
Critics have argued the legislation would neuter the PIID by making it subject to political influence.
The controversial bill, which still must pass three readings before becoming law, was proposed by Likud MK Moshe Saada, a former deputy head of the PIID.
“Now it’s clear to everyone why the PIID bill I’m advancing is critical,” Saada tweeted Tuesday after the report was released. “Senior officials in the law enforcement apparatus can’t be above the law.”
Levin reacted to the comptroller’s report Tuesday by saying he had ordered ministry staff to quickly suggest an operative plan to implement its recommendations, adding that the report “point to fundamental systemic fixes that are needed in the PIID.”
