(A) The officer’s private attorney should be immediately notified of any officer-involved shooting incident. The attorney should immediately proceed to the scene of the shooting to meet with and establish a lawyer-client relationship with that officer. The attorney should assist the officer in drafting a formal statement as to the underlying facts and the reasonableness as perceived by the officer justifying his or her use of deadly force. The statement should be drafted to insure (if that be appropriate) that legal sufficiency for such use of force is included in the officer’s statement. The officer should also be advised of his or her legal and Departmental rights regarding statements. The attorney should continue to assist the officer during the post-shooting investigations as well as criminal, civil and federal civil rights actions, including the initial interview conducted by federal agents in a criminal civil rights action. Should the initial lawyer-client interview indicate a violation of the State Penal Code, the attorney should represent the officer accordingly.
(B) All communications between the officer and attorney are privileged and must remain confidential and undisclosed unless by authority of the officer.
(`95 Code, § 23.09(21))