Describe the steps to take if you discover evidence of a crime during a company policy investigation?.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

If you find evidence of a crime during a company policy investigation, first determine whether the incident meets the elements of criminal law. You might have to consult with your corporate attorney to determine whether the situation is a potential crime?. Next, inform management of the incident; they might have other concerns, such as protecting confidential business data that might be included with the criminal evidence (called "commingled data"). In this case, coordinate with management and the corporate attorney to determine the best way to protect commingled data. After you submit evidence containing sensitive information to the police, it becomes public record. Public record laws do include exceptions for protecting sensitive corporate information; ultimately, however, a judge decides what to protect.?After you discover illegal activity and document and report the crime, stop your investigation to make sure you don't violate Fourth Amendment restrictions on obtaining evidence. If the information you supply is specific enough to meet the criteria for a search warrant, the police are responsible for obtaining a warrant that requests any new evidence. If you follow police instructions to gather additional evidence without a search warrant after you report a crime, you run the risk of becoming an agent of law enforcement. Instead, consult with your corporate attorney on how to respond to a police request for information. The police and prosecutor should issue a subpoena for any additional new evidence, which minimizes your exposure to potential civil liability. In addition, you should keep all documentation of evidence collected to investigate an internal company policy violation.