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The Art of Complaining

How to File an Effective Complaint Against a Police Officer
(Created 10/3/08; last updated 10/5/08)

This page is dedicated to traffic enforcement officers, including, and

especially, state troopers.  Traffic cops are sort of like Plasmodium
protozoa; they're often blobby, definitely parasitic, and are strongly
associated with an epidemic of societal proportions.

Introduction
A lot of citizens struggle with writing an effective complaint about a police
officer.  Often, the writer lets too much emotion enter into the complaint,
and it then comes across as more driven by emotion than fact, more
unreasonable than objective, or just generally easier for the police agency
to minimize or ignore.  (Indignation and outrage are good things to
communicate, but name-calling should definitely be avoided.)  Another
common mistake is to draft a statement of the events without making it
clear what the actual complaint is!  In any case, I wanted to provide a few
tips to maximize the impact of a complaint on behalf of the aspiring
complainer.

What Do I Mean By "Effective?"

Well, effectiveness is a loaded term, and depends somewhat on the intent
of your complaint.  Fortunately, the same techniques apply whether your
goal is merely to have a damning complaint sit permanently in the
officer's personnel file (and get noticed by the powers-that-be whenever
the officer is up for a promotion), or whether you are seeking more serious
disciplinary action and/or termination of the officer or deputy.

Definitions
A police complaint is formal allegation of misconduct.  This should not be
confused with a "service complaint," which is a complaint about the
service or policies of the agency, but not an allegation of misconduct
against a specific employee of that agency.  For the purposes of this
guide, the "subject officer" is the officer you are complaining about.  The
"agency" is the police department, sheriff's office, or other law
enforcement agency with whom you are filing the complaint.

General guidelines: Effective Police Complaints...

Are written by you!  Do not let another police officer write a

complaint for you based on your verbal testimony.  You must
control the specific content of the complaint, or you've probably
already failed in your efforts.  If you're asked to give your complaint
orally to the on-duty supervisor, insist instead on sending a written
complaint (certified, with return receipt requested) to Internal Affairs
or other disciplinary authority.  Remember that a written submission
is much harder for an agency to minimize or bury!
 Allege serious misconduct by the officer (see some of the possible
applicable categories below; be aggressive about asserting the
seriousness of the officer's behavior in your complaint!), and
contain an explicit request for a formal investigation.  Wrap up your
complaint with a sentence like: "Officer X has committed numerous,
serious violations of departmental policy and the law, and for this
reason, and for the safety of the community at large, complainant
requests a formal investigation be undertaken immediately."

Are timely.  Many jurisdictions require that you file your complaint

within 60 days for allegations of minor misconduct (e.g., officer was
rude), or within 6 months for more serious allegations.  If you can't
meet these deadlines, you should be able to show good cause as to
why your complaint was late.  (Note that these deadlines are often
waived for allegations of violation of the law.)

Clearly allege a pattern of misconduct, if such a pattern exists.  This

makes it less likely the alleged misconduct will be dismissed as
"minor."

Have corroborating witnesses whose reports do not conflict with

yours!  If witnesses exist, you should ask each of them to write a
separate account of the incident.  It will also help if your witnesses
are willing to answer additional follow-up questions the police
agency might have.
If your complaint cites evidence, the evidence should be produced
when the police agency requests it (but make sure you get a
receipt!)  Referring to evidence without ever turning it over makes a
case look weak, and is a red flag for the complaint to be
disregarded.

Are carbon copied ("cc'd") to a state representative or other local

politician.  This really turns up the heat and makes it harder for the
law enforcement agency to bury the complaint without giving it due
consideration!

Getting Started
Your first goal is to actually get your hands on a police complaint form.  In
some jurisdictions, this can be a challenge (see external link at the
bottom of this page).  Essentially, what you need to do is visit the police
station or agency where the officer works (although if it's a large
organization, you might consider visiting a different branch or office) to
pick up a complaint form which you will fill out, and mail in.  If you expect
a lack of professionalism or outright abuse on the part of the agency (or if
you aren't sure what to expect) then you should strongly consider
bringing someone with you to the police station as a witness.  If you're
really concerned, consider having that person keep a small tape recorder
in their possession.  Having a witness with you makes it far less likely you
will be harassed or arrested.  Having the tape recorder will help later if the
officer at the front desk is abusive and/or refuses to give you a complaint
form.  Be sure to grab some duplicate forms while you're at the police
station, and stick them in a file cabinet at home -- no sense having to
come all the way back to the station and fight for another form if you lose
the first form, or if the behavior you're complaining about recurs!

The Basics: Categories of Police Misconduct

Minor misconduct: has minimal adverse impact on the operation or
integrity of the agency.  Not likely to result in formal disciplinary action
(e.g., a lack of courtesy; although rudeness complaints may have a
long-term effect on the officer, as described below, rudeness may also fall
into the more serious "unnecessary force" category, also described
below).
General misconduct: violates a policy that requires a fixed penalty (e.g.,
failure to attend court, failure to attend a scheduled training or
qualification, etc.).  Generally not relevant to citizen complaints.
Serious misconduct: violates policies, procedures, rules, or regulations
that have an adverse impact on the operation or integrity of the agency,
and which can result in formal disciplinary action (this includes violations
of the law).  Generally the kind of stuff that you want to allege, if at all
possible.
Examples of serious misconduct include (names and definitions may vary
a bit from jurisdiction to jurisdiction; check your local police agency's
Operations Manual (it should be made available to the public online, or at
the police agency office):

Aiding another (officer) to violate a rule

Altering information on official documents
Appropriating property
Careless driving resulting in injury or death (note also that many
jurisdictions require automatic testing of an officer for alcohol or
drug influence after any car accident more severe than a fender
bender that may have been caused by that officer; this can be a
good thing to request under an FOIA (Freedom of Information Act)
request - ***link coming soon!***)
Compromising a criminal case
Departing from the truth (a colorful euphemism for lying; good for
alleging in the case of traffic tickets; see also False report)
Destruction of reports or records
Discrimination (see also Racial or ethnic intimidation, below)
Drinking on duty
False arrest (not to be confused with the tort of the same name)
False report (see also Departing from the truth)
Harassment (see also Sexual Harassment)
Knowingly making a false report (good for alleging in the case of
traffic tickets)
Law violation(s), or conspiracy to commit law violation(s) (a.k.a.
lack of conformance with the law)
Malicious threats or assault
Narcotics
Overdriving (driving rapidly and/or aggressively) on the way to a
minor call (very common in some jurisdictions)
Racial or ethnic intimidation
 Rough and careless handling of departmental equipment
Sexual harassment
Soliciting or accepting a bribe
Unnecessary force (a.k.a. excessive force; this category includes
not only unnecessary force or violence in making an arrest or in
dealing with a prisoner, but also ridiculing, taunting, humiliating, or
mentally abusing you)

Filing the Complaint

As mentioned previously, make sure your complaint alleges at least one
specific category of misconduct!  (See examples above.)  This serves two
purposes.  First, this makes it irrefutably clear what misconduct you are
accusing the officer of, and thus helps to set the stage for your complaint
to be appropriately reviewed and investigated.  Secondly, and even more
importantly, a specific allegation makes it tougher for the departmental
employees handling the complaint to clear the officer without any
substantial refutation of your allegations, and thus tougher for them to
sweep it under the rug.  It's easier for an agency to dismiss a raw
statement of facts which contains some misconduct buried deep within,
than to dismiss a report which specifically names one or more official
categories of misconduct.  As such, try to pick the best few applicable
policy violations and list them in a boldface heading at the top of your
complaint.  In addition to the serious offenses listed above, other
categories of misconduct include:

Abuse of authority
Abuse of process
Conduct unbecoming a law enforcement officer
Lack of courtesy
Lack of professionalism
Neglect of duty
Retaliation (e.g., for a previous complaint you filed!)

There is clearly a lot of overlap between categories, so you should be able

to cite plenty of types of misconduct in your report.  Don't limit yourself to
the items listed here; check your local police department operational
manual or procedural handbook for additional categories!

Remember, if the incident about which you are complaining is part of a

pattern of behavior by the subject officer(s), be sure to note this in your
complaint!

Finally, make sure that you mail the complaint report using Certified Mail,
Return Receipt Requested.  That way, you'll end up with a postcard that
says who at the department signed for your complaint, and the
department cannot later allege that they never received it.

Procedure
What happens after I file a complaint?
First, the intake stage.  A sergeant (or higher ranking officer; this person
will be known as the "intake officer") will conduct a preliminary review the
complaint and determine whether the allegations, if true, would constitute
non-minor misconduct.  Next, there are several other grounds for
dismissal of the complaint besides the misconduct being categorized as
minor.  For example, a determination that your allegations are
intentionally and materially false will lead to your complaint being
dismissed.  Trivial or frivolous complaints (i.e., those which allege minor
technical violations of procedural rules which have negligible adverse
effects on the public or the agency's credibility, such as failure by the
officer to wear the uniform hat) are also dismissed during intake.  Grossly
illogical or improbable complaints (e.g., that an officer took control of your
mind and made you punch yourself in the face) are also dismissed at this
stage.  Note that if you have a "history of unfounded complaints" with the
agency, you may receive "special handling." This does not mean they can
automatically dismiss your complaint, but rather, that they may require
you to agree to an interview or other additional procedures.

If your allegations are perceived to be minor by the reviewing officer (or

not part of a pattern), your complaint dies before it is ever seriously
considered -- this is why it's so important for you to clearly allege and
categorize serious misconduct by the officer!

Informal investigation
A categorization of minor misconduct by the intake officer will lead to an
informal investigation; this is a dead end as far as you are concerned!  An
informal investigation consists of nothing more than debriefing the
subject officer regarding your concerns about the officer.s actions or
quality of service.  Most importantly, informal investigations do not
trigger any formal finding or the imposition of discipline.  This is why it's
so important to explicitly allege serious misconduct by the officer, and to
request a formal investigation in your complaint!  If your complaint gets
designated for informal investigation, write the department a letter
underscoring the severity of your allegations, and demanding that a
formal investigation be undertaken.

Formal Investigation
A formal investigation is generally performed by the subject officer's
chain of command (his supervisors), or by an Internal Affairs officer (or
bureau of officers, in the case of larger, metropolitan police
agencies).  Depending on your jurisdiction, Internal Affairs involvement
may be reserved for allegations of serious misconduct (and the officer's
superior is generally required to notify Internal Affairs of any such
allegations).  During a formal investigation, the subject officer and his or
her representatives are prohibited from contacting or interviewing any
witnesses or conducting any type of investigation into the allegations.  As
such, you should report any contact or attempts at contacting you by
officers who are not specifically authorized to conduct the investigation!

The subject officer is not entitled to any legal representation during the
investigation process since it is generally an internal matter and does not
involve a court proceeding.  During the investigation, officers who are
known to have knowledge (either direct or indirect) of the alleged
misconduct will be required by the agency to prepare and submit an
individual report which is both complete and accurate.
Be forewarned that in a rural Sheriff's Office or other small police agency,
"Internal Affairs" may consist of a single officer who is closely acquainted
with, or works closely with, the subject officer.  This will probably make it
harder to get your complaint the attention it deserves, but the techniques
in this guide should help you overcome this disadvantage!

Criminal or civil suits against the officer

If criminal charges are expected against the officer, this may affect the
scheduling and handling of the investigation.  This is because in a
criminal case, the standard of proof is "beyond a reasonable doubt" (that
is, the jury must be roughly 90% certain that the crime occurred).  In
contrast, in most civil cases or in the handling of police complaints, the
standard of proof is a "preponderance of evidence" (that is, roughly 51%
certainty that the allegation is true, but this may not be true with some
allegations such as False Arrest, which only has to meet an even lower,
"probable cause" standard).  So, in the case of criminal allegations, the
investigating authorities will generally wait to handle complaints after the
conclusion of the criminal matter, since the evidence and results of the
trial may be definitive and save investigation time (unofficially, it also
decreases the odds that the police agency sweeps something under the
rug that later becomes embarrassing headline news).  Note that if the
officer has been charged with a felony by the District Attorney's office, the
police agency will generally be forced to indefinitely suspend him or
her.  The filing a civil suit against the agency may likewise change the
dynamic of the complaint procedure, but generally will not halt the
agency's investigation.

In the case of very serious allegations (e.g., that the officer used force or
deadly force), you should lobby the District Attorney's office to initiate its
own investigation.  If an affirmative defense exists (e.g., the officer was
acting in self defense), or if there is insufficient evidence to convict, the
District Attorney will not prosecute the officer.

If the officer is found guilty of criminal charges, there may not be any
administrative penalty, since the criminal penalty is believed to be more
severe.  If the officer is found not guilty in the criminal trial (remember,
criminal cases use the "beyond a reasonable doubt" (90%+ certain)
standard of proof), he or she could still be found guilty using the
"preponderance of evidence" (51%+ certain) standard of proof, and so the
investigation of the officer will resume in this case.

In some jurisdictions, an independent monitor from outside the police

agency will be appointed whenever criminal charges have been filed
against an officer.  This independent monitor will often have the discretion
to continue the investigation even if the criminal charges are dismissed,
and can also recommend that the Internal Affairs department conduct
additional investigation into a matter.  Therefore, it is definitely worth your
while to work with the independent monitor to make sure all relevant
evidence is considered.

Mediation
Mediation is a voluntary process for resolving complaints, and it may
involve you meeting with other community members, police officers,
police administrators, and/or an independent monitor.  You have the right
to refuse mediation if it is offered.  Also, you do not have the right to
demand mediation.  Whether or not mediation will help achieve your goals
definitely depends on the facts of your case, and the professionalism of
the agency with which you are dealing.  If mediation is offered to you, it is
worth tracking down a lawyer or other local insider with knowledge of the
mediation process and its likely effect on the results of your complaint.

The outcome
Once a formal investigation is complete, the department is required to
reach an official disposition as to your complaint.  Findings in formal
investigations use different terminology than criminal cases.  Instead of
"Guilty" or "Not Guilty," police complaint investigations can result in a
variety of outcomes.  An "Unfounded" finding is one where the allegation
was not found to be based on facts as shown by the investigation; that is,
the alleged misconduct is believed not to have occurred by the police
agency.  An "Exonerated" finding means that the alleged action was found
to have occurred, but the investigation revealed that the action was
reasonable, lawful, and proper.  A "Not Sustained" finding means that
insufficient evidence was available to either prove or disprove the
allegation (that is, 50% or less of the evidence suggested that the
allegation was true).  Finally, a "Sustained" finding means that the
investigation disclosed sufficient evidence to determine that the
allegation was accurate.  You may have noticed that we've got three
varieties of "Not Guilty" verdicts here, and only one "Guilty" ; this provides
some indication of how much the deck is stacked against the citizen
making the complaint, especially when you supposedly only need 51% of
the evidence to support your allegation to result in a "Sustained"
outcome!

If the subject officer is cleared of wrongdoing, some departments will

allow you to appeal the decision within the department.  If this option
does not exist, or is unsuccessful, you've got several options.  The lowest
cost course of action would be to complain to your state representative
and/or the town or city governing body.  Beyond this, your only real
recourse for escalating the issue is a civil lawsuit, or pursuing criminal
charges against the officer, both of which are beyond the scope of this
article.

Short-term implications for the subject officer

Ideally, a disciplinary outcome will result from your complaint.  In order of
increasing severity, this could take the form of an oral reprimand (note
that despite its verbal nature, this action will still be documented in
writing), a written reprimand, fine, suspension, demotion, or
dismissal.  Also, depending on the outcome of the investigation, the
subject officer may be allowed to remain in his or her usual assignment,
allowed to remain on duty but reassigned, or relieved of duty.

In some jurisdictions, "Sustained" complaints with a sufficiently severe

penalty are subject to review by a Disciplinary Review Board which
includes citizens, and officers who are not directly involved in the case
and not in the chain of command directly above the subject officer.  In
some jurisdictions, officers also have the option to appeal a "Sustained"
complaint to a Civil Service Commission or similar municipal authority.

Longer-term implications for the subject officer

In addition to the short term consequences of your complaint (that is, the
investigation and resolution described above), your complaint also has a
more indirect and longer-term consequence for the subject officer.  First
of all, even "Not Sustained" complaints stay in the personnel file of the
subject officer, and will be reviewed during the officer's annual
performance evaluation (all officers up to, and including, the rank of
captain must typically undergo this type of yearly review).  Past
complaints will likewise come up whenever an officer is up for promotion
or transfer.  If the officer is on probationary status because they are a
fairly recent hire, or because of a past disciplinary problem, such
complaints will probably be weighed more heavily against the officer.

Secondly, a great many police agencies now use a "declining complaint

system" to identify patterns of misconduct, and to weed out retaliatory
complaints (that is, complaints which are believed to be filed simply to
wreak vengeance on the officer by the citizen).  Under the declining
complaint system, the agency will not only look at the facts surrounding
your complaint, but will use the number of complaints the officer has
received in the past quarter year (or longer) to decide whether the officer
is receiving an abnormally high number of complaints.  If so, the agency
is more likely to investigate further instead of ignoring the
complaints.  Many police agencies also use an "early warning" or "early
intervention" system which endeavors to detect early warning signs that
indicate incipient patterns of future misconduct.

Both systems review the officer on a quarterly basis to determine whether

the officer's statistics are out of line when compared with "similarly
situated" officers.  Ideally, this means that only officers with the same
tenure, shift, and neighborhood are compared, but in the real world such
"similarly situated" officers may be unavailable for comparison.  An
officer's statistics are also normalized to adjust for the number of
complaints versus the number of contacts or arrests during the period in
question, the number of uses of force versus the number of contacts or
arrests, the number of crashed cars, number of rudeness complaints,
etc.  Small or rural police departments may employ additional statistics
due to the decreased number of contacts (e.g., number of sick days
taken).  If any of these metrics hits a certain threshold, counseling and
mentoring are ordered for the officer (or in more serious cases,
disciplinary proceedings).

How many complaints does it take to raise a red flag?  For a variety of

likely reasons, urban police officers typically receive more complaints
than their rural counterparts.  The "similarly situated" statistics
notwithstanding, even five complaints in a quarter would be a very high
number, even for an officer who makes a lot of arrests in an urban
area.  Obviously, a smaller number of complaints would likely raise a red
flag in a suburban or rural police department.

What if I verbally antagonized the officer before he broke out the Taser?
Officially, the fact that you called the cop a "parasitic ass-clown" as he
handed you the speeding ticket (a.k.a. "contempt for the officer"; note that
this, and the oft-heard "disrespecting an officer" are not actually illegal)
may be "taken into consideration" during the investigation, but is not
supposed to actually be a mitigating circumstance for the officer.  This is
quite a nuanced guideline, but you can certainly use that to your
advantage by owning up to your outburst in your complaint, and making it
clear that this was still no excuse for the officer's subsequent
behavior.  Likewise, if you begged, "Don't taze me, bro!" beforehand, make
that clear in your complaint as well.

What about off-duty officers?

You should be aware that off-duty officers in any jurisdiction who are
charged with misdemeanors, felonies, or local law violations involving
use of force (e.g., assault) or threatened use of force are generally placed
under formal investigation if their department is made aware of the
violation.  If you are involved in an incident with an off-duty officer, never
assume that the officer's agency will find out . the only way to be sure is
to file a complaint which fully documents the incident.  Note also that
many departments require off-duty officers, while in uniform, to adhere to
the same standards of conduct as if they were on duty!

What if I can't identify the officer?

Police agencies must make a good faith effort to identify the officer on
your behalf.  Unless you're going to sue the agency (and thus will have
discovery or subpoena power), you won't have much chance to identify
the officer yourself.  So, if the agency cannot or will not identify the officer,
your best chance is to challenge whether the agency really lived up to its
obligations and made a good faith effort; ask them to document what
steps they took to identify the officer(s) in question!

What about third party complaints?

Third parties can make complaints.  However, they must have a
"reasonably direct relationship" to the incident if filing a minor
complaint.  A "reasonably direct relationship" generally means the third
party was directly affected by the alleged misconduct (a first-hand
source), witnessed the alleged misconduct (a second-hand source), or
has special, professional, or organizational knowledge about the alleged
misconduct (e.g., based on the party's capacity as a lawyer, judge,
etc.)  The agency isn't allowed to dismiss less serious third party
complaints if there is a reasonable explanation why the "person with
standing" (the victim) did not file the complaint (e.g., the victim was a
minor, elderly, disabled, deceased, doesn't speak English well, is not a
citizen, is wanted on criminal charges, has been threatened, etc.)

Can I complain anonymously?

Anonymous complaints are usually dismissed unless they allege
corruption or other very serious police misconduct.
Retaliation
If the subject officer or his cronies start giving you a hard time after you
file the complaint, file an additional retaliation complaint after each
occurrence!  That way, each complaint makes the pattern of harassment
more obvious, harder to deny, and increases the chances this behavior
will stop.

What if I want to commend an officer for doing something good?

While "courtesy patrol" services such as helping a stranded motorist
change a flat tire seem to be in steady decline (police agencies cite
budgetary restrictions demanding retasking of officers; critics cite
departmental greed causing deprioritization of such services in favor of
revenue-generating activity like traffic enforcement), it is conceivable that
you will have reason to thank an officer acting in this capacity.  And
indeed, you should . the increasing rarity of such occurrences makes it all
the more important to reward officers for actually protecting and/or
serving the community.  You can submit a narrative the same way you
would in the case of a complaint.  The officer will likely receive a
complimentary note from the Chief or other superior officer, and perhaps
a mention in the agency's newsletter.  More significant positive deeds can
result in a service award or citation, Officer of the Year award, or even a
medal.

External links
To get an idea of how much professionalism you will be met with when
making your complaint, see how your local police department rates on
this police accountability website.

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