Making a Complaint On a Police Officer
Police Officer Complaint
Police Complaints Against an Officer in Texas
Do not make a verbal complaint to an officer at the station, and avoid completing any complaint form provided directly by the police. These forms often request personal information such as your phone number, Social Security number, home address, workplace, driver’s license number, and date of birth.
None of that information is legally required to file a complaint. Providing it may expose you to unnecessary contact or potential harassment.
A safer approach is to prepare your complaint in writing before you go to the department. You can submit a written, signed statement without giving excessive personal details.
The only information you are required to provide is your name, signature, and a way to contact you — an email address is sufficient.
Nothing more is needed.
What is Police Misconduct?
Police Misconduct refers to inappropriate, unethical, or illegal actions taken by law enforcement officers while performing their official duties. Such conduct can result in a miscarriage of justice and may involve violations of constitutional rights, discrimination, abuse of authority, or actions motivated by bias or corruption. In some cases, police misconduct also constitutes obstruction of justice, particularly when officers attempt to conceal wrongdoing or interfere with investigations.
Examples of Police Misconduct:
~ Rudeness
~ Excessive force
~ Soliciting or accepting bribes
~ Drinking on duty
~ Harassment
~ Cannot deprive any person of his/her constitutional rights
~ Making a false report (good for alleging in the case of traffic tickets)
~ Use of narcotics (on or off duty)
~ Discrimination
~ Altering information on an official document
~ Careless driving (driving rapidly and/or aggressively to a minor call
~ Racial or ethnic intimidation
~ Malicious threats or assault
~ Sexual harassment
~ Unjustified arrests
~ Discriminatory traffic stops
~ Coercive sexual conduct
~ Criminal police misconduct
How to Make a Complaint Against A Police Officer
Police complaints – As an American citizen, you have the legal right to file a complaint against a police officer who has engaged in misconduct, abuse of power, or unprofessional behavior.
Filing a police complaint is an important step toward accountability and transparency in law enforcement. When you report police misconduct, an incident report is placed in the officer’s personnel file. This record helps ensure that the officer’s behavior is documented and that their supervisors are aware of potential issues that may require investigation or disciplinary action.
Filing a complaint also helps protect others from future misconduct and supports efforts to improve policing standards in your community. How to Prepare and File a Police Misconduct Complaint
Filing a complaint about a police encounter is a serious process. Taking time to gather your thoughts and document the truth accurately will make your report stronger and more credible.
1. Write Down Everything as Soon as Possible
After your encounter with police, take a moment to record what happened — either in writing or on video — while the details are still fresh.
Describe what happened from the very beginning to the end of the encounter.
You don’t have to file your complaint right away. Wait a week or two, then review what you wrote. You may remember new details or realize something needs clarification.
Focus on accuracy. Write only what you directly saw, heard, or experienced.
2. Stick to the Facts
When you’re ready to write your complaint, keep it professional and factual.
- Avoid emotional language or insults.
- Be specific about actions, words, and times rather than opinions or assumptions.
- Your goal is to make it easy for investigators or reviewers to understand what actually occurred.
3. Be Completely Truthful
Honesty is the most important part of your complaint.
A truthful, detailed complaint helps ensure your concerns are taken seriously and strengthens accountability for everyone involved.
If an investigator finds that something in your report is false, your entire complaint could lose credibility.
Making false statements in a police complaint can have serious consequences, including criminal charges.
The more information in your police complaint, the better. Your complaint should include:
1. Who is the officer you’re filing a complaint against? Name or badge number?
2. What does the police officer say or do? Was he rude, abusive, or use excessive force?
3. When did the incident happen? Date and time.
4. Where did it occur? Location?
5. What happened when the incident occurred? Do you have corroborating witnesses whose story doesn’t conflict with yours? If you have witnesses, you should ask each of them to write a separate account of the incident and sign it.
6. Do you have any type of evidence, like pictures, audio, or a video recording of the incident?
Next
Your complaint must be signed by you and provide the police with only your email address.
Go to the law enforcement agency where the officer works and ask for internal affairs or a supervisor. Tell internal affairs or the supervisor that you would like to file a complaint against an officer. (I would not fill out a complaint online.)
Give the supervisor your complaint and ask him if he would please date and initial it and make a copy of the complaint, and give you back the original.
The complaint will be investigated, and you should receive an email from the police agency on the status of your complaint in about 30 days. Police complaint.
We All Know That The Police Lie
The officer taking your complaint might tell you that the complaint has to be notarized. In Texas, this is false!
Texas Government Code – GOV’T § 614.022. Complaint to Be in Writing and Signed by the Complainant.
The law says nothing about giving your personal information to the police or having the complaint notarized.
The response you will get from the police department on the police complaint will be one of the following:
1. SUSTAINED – The investigation disclosed sufficient evidence to clearly prove some or all of the allegations made in the complaint, and disciplinary action could result against the officer.
2. NOT SUSTAINED – The investigation failed to discover sufficient evidence to clearly prove or disprove the allegation(s) made.
3. UNFOUNDED – The investigation indicated that the alleged act(s) did not occur.
4. EXONERATED – The investigation reveals that the acts did occur, but the actions taken were justified, lawful, and proper.
Police complaints: A “sustained” complaint may result in disciplinary action against the officer of one or more of the following:
1. Formal written reprimand.
2. Disciplinary probation.
3. Time off without pay.
4. Demotion.
5. Termination.
There is a time limit on how long you have to file a complaint against a police officer. For minor police misconduct, you may have only up to 60 days.
Making a complaint against an officer will not get you compensated for police misconduct, and police complaints are not lawsuits.
For a more serious complaint, contact a competent civil rights attorney about filing a lawsuit for civil rights violations. In a civil lawsuit, you may receive compensation if you and your attorney can prove damages or civil rights violations.
You may also contact your State Attorney General’s Office and call the ACLU hotline at 1-877-634-5454.
Updated: 09.24.2023
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https://policecrimes.com/fayette-sheriff/
https://policecrimes.com/waller-sheriff/
https://policecrimes.com/police-reports/
https://policecrimes.com/texas-dps-trooper/
police texas
Police Texas officer is a warranted law enforcement officer of a police force. Police Complaint “police officer” is a generic term, not specifying a particular rank. In some cases, the use of the rank “officer” is legally reserved for military personnel. texas Police officers are generally charged with the apprehension of suspects and the prevention, Police complaint, detection, and reporting of crime, protection and assistance of the general public, and the maintenance of public order. Police officers may be sworn to an oath, and have the power to arrest people and detain them for a limited time, along with other duties and powers. Police complaint.
Police complaint: Police Misconduct or Abuse of Power?
Police complaint: Unlawful stops that violate the Fourth Amendment: You have the right to refuse unreasonable searches, including during police stops. For the police to stop you they must have a valid reason and reasonable suspicion that a crime or traffic violation has occurred. Your detention must be limited to the reason for the initial stop. If you have not committed a crime, you have the right to continue on your way.
Police complaint: Racial profiling or discrimination that violates the Fourth or Fourteenth Amendments: When an officer searches, stops, or arrests you based on your race, they are violating your civil rights. It is also a violation of your civil rights for police to stop you due to your gender, sexual orientation, or other characteristics.
Unlawful search or seizure in violation of the Fourth Amendment: The Fourth Amendment gives citizens freedom from unreasonable intrusion by the government, including the police. Unlawful searches can happen when an officer searches your vehicle, home, or you without probable cause. If an officer asks to search your property or you, you have the right to say no.
Unlawful, false, or wrongful arrest violating the Fourth Amendment: An unlawful arrest occurs when law enforcement seizes and restrains you in a way that leaves you without the belief that you can leave, without having legal justification to arrest you. Law enforcement needs probable cause or a warrant based on probable cause to arrest you. If you are arrested without a warrant or cause, it is against your civil rights. Police complaint.