2019 2nd Qtr

Citizen Complaints against Officers
2019 2nd Quarter

All citizen complaints against officers are documented and investigated by the department’s supervisors. Once the investigation is complete, it is reviewed by the Section Commander, Division Commander and then forwarded to the Office of the Chief where the decision is made as to the finding of the complaint. Complaints questioning the basis for a citation or arrest are not documented and those complainants are advised to go through the court system.

There are four different categories of complaint findings:

  • Sustained - The investigation produced a preponderance of evidence to prove the allegation did in fact occur and the action of the officer was improper.
  • Not Sustained - The investigation failed to produce a preponderance of evidence to either prove or disprove the allegation.
  • Exonerated - The allegation in fact did occur but the actions of the officer were legal, justified, proper, and in accordance with the law and the department’s policies and procedures.
  • Unfounded - The allegation in fact did not occur, based on the evidence.

During this quarter, there were thirteen citizen’s complaints against officers. One of the complaint summaries below contains three different complaints. The findings for these complaints are as follows:

Sustained - 0
Not Sustained -1 |
Exonerated - 1
Unfounded - 11
Pending - 0

The following is a summary of each of those complaints:

  1. On 4-7-2019, a citizen complained that she received injuries as a result of being arrested. After reviewing the video and speaking to the people involved, the complaint was unfounded. The citizen had physically resisted the officers. The officers used only the force necessary to arrest her.
  2. On 4-11-2019, a citizen complained that he was being threatened online by a relative of an officer. The complaint did not indicate that the officer was involved in any way, and the complaint was not sustained. 
  3. On 4-17-2019, a citizen complained that he received injuries to her wrists as a result of handcuffing. After reviewing the video and speaking with people involved, the complaint was unfounded. The citizen was physically combative and the officers used only the force necessary to arrest her. 
  4. On 4-18-2019, a citizen complained that a supervisor was rude while speaking with him. After reviewing the video and speaking with the people involved, there was no evidence to support his claim and the complaint was unfounded.
  5. On 4-23-2019, a citizen complained that he received injuries as a result of being arrested. After reviewing the video and speaking to the people involved, the complaint was unfounded. The citizen had physically resisted the officers. The officers used only the force necessary to arrest him.
  6. On 4-24-2019, a citizen complained that he received injuries to his wrists as a result of handcuffing. After reviewing the video and speaking with people involved, the complaint was unfounded.
  7. On 4-24-2019, a citizen complained that he received injuries to his wrists as a result of handcuffing. After reviewing the video and speaking with people involved, the complaint was unfounded. The citizen continued to twist their hands in the handcuffs after being instructed not to do so.
  8. On 5-1-2019, a citizen complained that she received injuries as a result of being arrested. After reviewing the video and speaking to the people involved, the complaint was unfounded. The citizen had physically resisted the officers. The officers used only the force necessary to arrest her.
  9. On 5-5-2019 a citizen complained that officers entered her residence illegally, pointed a Taser at her and used unnecessary force. After reviewing the videos and speaking with people involved, the officers had a legal right to enter the residence so the officers were exonerated. The officers did not deploy a Taser and used only the force necessary to control the combative citizen, so those complaints were unfounded.
  10. On 5-27-2019, a citizen complained that he received injuries as a result of   being arrested. After reviewing the video and speaking to the people involved, the complaint was unfounded. The citizen had fled from the officers and his injuries were caused by the fences he was jumping over while trying to evade officers. 
  11. On 6-1-2019, a citizen complained that an officer was rude while speaking with her. After reviewing the video and speaking with the people involved, there was no evidence to support her claim and the complaint was unfounded.