Please note: No information on this web site may be relied upon or construed as legal advice. If you have legal questions or issues you should contact an attorney.
Q: What is an official police complaint?
A: Official police complaints are generally filed through the police department's own internal investigations unit such as 'Office of Professional Compliance', etc. The reason civilians generally file a police complaint is to put a report of abuse onto an officer's record so as to try to keep the officer from continuing to abuse his or her authority or to help show the officer's superiors that there is a problem with the individual that needs to be addressed. Police complaints will not get a victim compensated for police abuse. Police complaints are not law suits. If you file a complaint against the police and the police 'clear' themselves as they so often do, the only recourse you may have is a civil law suit where you may receive compensation if you and your attorney can prove damages or civil rights violations. Contact a competent civil rights attorney if you need more information about filing a law suit for civil rights violations. You may also try to contact your county 'State Attorney' or county 'Prosecuting Attorney' to see if he/she will prosecute the abusive officer. Their willingness to investigate a police abuse incident may also depend on how closely they are allied with the police department involved.Postings on this web site are in no way to be considered actual official complaints against law enforcement officers. We neither forward these complaints to any agency or official, nor do we work as an intermediary in such efforts. This web site has no affiliation with any law enforcement agencies. In order to file an 'official' complaint against a law enforcement officer, of any rank, we strongly recommend that you file your complaint through a competent attorney or an organization such as the Police Complaint Center (see below link). An attorney can help protect you, through documentation and legal advise, from police harassment or arrest in these matters.
Never ... ever... walk into a police station by yourself to file a complaint. Civilian Testers have shown that you may very well be arrested or harassed for doing so. Most police departments have a special office that handles police complaints, such as 'Office of Professional Compliance', etc.
------Web
Links of Interest------
http://www.PoliceAbuse.org (
citizen Police Complaint Center )
U.S.
Department of Justice ( Report Civil Rights Abuse - Civil Rights Division )
FBI
Field Office Locations ( report Police Corruption )
FBI
tips program ( report Police Corruption via the Internet )
American Civil Liberties Union
(ACLU) State Chapters
CopWatch Police Complaint Database