Thirteen people work in the Cincinnati Police Department's Internal Investigations Section (IIS), led since November by Capt. Stephen Gregorie, who has been on the force nearly 32 years.

        With a bigger staff, he acknowledged, he might be able to speed up investigations but it's not that simple.

        Some complicating factors:

        • The internal investigation into Officer Stephen Roach's fatal shooting of Timothy Thomas couldn't begin in earnest until after the officer's criminal trial ended in September — even though the death occurred more than five months before. That's because neither the city nor the prosecutor wants an administrative review, which can at most result in termination, messing up a court process that can result in a stiffer punishment.

        • The city, as an officer's employer, can order officers to submit to internal interviews. But officials don't want to do that in criminal cases because the officer, by law, has to be granted immunity from self-incrimination.

        • Every interview can prompt new questions to be asked of other people. That, Capt. Gregoire said, can prompt multiple interviews of multiple witnesses and suspects.

        The speediness of internal reviews wasn't a hot-button issue at the time Mr. Roach's criminal trial ended in September. There were many distractions going on at the time:

        • Two other trials, of Officers Robert Jorg and Patrick Caton, still loomed.

        • Mayor Charlie Luken was in a fight for Cincinnati's first strong-mayor job in decades.

        • All nine City Council members faced re-election campaigns.

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