Complaint Process

If you have a complaint about an SPD employee, which includes a police officer or a civilian employee, OPA has steps for reviewing it. Click on the drop-down menus below to learn more about these steps, with definitions.

Steps in the Complaint Process

1. When a Complaint is Filed 
   When you file a complaint, OPA records it in its database and sends you a notice to let you know it was received. This notice will include your case number.
2. How We Classify Complaints 
    After reviewing your complaint, OPA must decide that if proven true, your complaint would break SPD policy or training or even break the law. All complaints are “classified,” even if their classification is “contact log.” This process is called classification, which puts the complaint into one of the categories below:

Contact Log  

Your case may be classified as a Contact Log if one of these is true:

1. 1. 1. The complaint does not describe a potential violation of SPD policy.  
      2. There isn’t enough information to continue with an investigation.  
      3. The complaint was filed too late; usually more than five years after the incident happened. 
      4. OPA or the Office of Inspector General (OIG) has already reviewed or made a decision about this complaint.
      5. The complaint describes something that is unrealistic or impossible, and there is no other sign that any wrongdoing happened.  

Supervisor Action  
If the complaint is about a small policy violation or a job performance problem, the employee’s supervisor usually takes care of it. They might give feedback, extra training, or coaching. OPA sends the supervisor a memo with instructions. The supervisor has 15 days to finish the steps and let OPA know. If needed, they can ask for more time. Complaints about serious issues—like excessive force, biased policing, or breaking the law—are not handled this way.

Investigation
This happens when the complaint is about an SPD policy violation or something that OPA must look into. In these cases, OPA does a full investigation. This might include watching body-worn video if available. They may also talk to other people involved or who saw what happened. When the investigation is done, OPA shares what they learned with the Chief of Police. The employee could face formal discipline depending on what the investigation shows.

Expedited Investigation 
This happens when a complaint says an SPD officer may have broken an important policy, and OPA is required to look into it. But if OPA and the Office of Inspector General (OIG) agree that there is already enough information from the first review, they may decide that a full investigation is not needed. In these cases, OPA usually does not talk to the officer named in the complaint but might talk to other employees who saw what happened. By union rules, if OPA doesn’t interview the officer, they cannot be officially found to have broken the rules.

This approach may be used if:

• • The evidence shows the named employee didn’t do anything wrong.
  • The problem was small and OPA thinks training is the best response.
  • The issue seems minor, but it shows a bigger problem with SPD’s rules or training that needs to be fixed, and OPA may make suggestions for change. 

In some cases, complaints can be handled in other ways, which are listed below.

 Other Ways OPA Handles Complaints:

Mediation
This option is used when there’s a misunderstanding or disagreement between an SPD employee and a community member. Both people have to agree to meet and talk with the help of a neutral person called a mediator. If the employee shows up and participates respectfully, the complaint won’t be added to their record. Some complaints aren’t a good fit for mediation. It gives the community member a chance to share how that experience impacted them.

Rapid Adjudication 
This is used when the complaint is about a small or medium policy violation. The employee agrees that they were wrong and is willing to accept discipline instead of going through a full investigation.

3. The Investigation Process 
If OPA decides a complaint needs a full investigation, they choose an investigator to look into it. When they can, the same person who first looked at the complaint will keep working on it. The investigator will collect more information and talk to the officer named in the complaint, as well as any witnesses. OPA tries to finish the investigation in 120 days.

4. Case Findings 
After the investigation is done, the OPA Director looks at all the case information and makes a decision about each part of the complaint. They decide if it’s more likely than not (more than 50% likely) that the employee broke a policy or the law.

If the evidence shows the employee did break a policy, the finding is called “sustained.” The Chief of Police then decides what consequence the employee should get.

If the evidence doesn’t support the complaint, or if it’s a small problem that can be fixed with training, the finding is called “not sustained” for one of these reasons:

• • Unfounded: The evidence shows that misconduct didn’t happen as it was described, or at all.
  • Lawful and Proper: The evidence shows the employee did what they were accused of, but it was allowed under SPD policy.
  • Inconclusive: There isn’t enough evidence to know if it did or didn’t happen.
    Training Referral: The employee may have made a small or unintentional mistake, so their supervisor will give them more training.
  • Management Action: The employee may have gone against policy, but the bigger issue seems to be unclear policy or training gaps. OPA may recommend changes to fix that.

To check the status of an OPA case, you can use OPA’s Complaint Tracker.  It may take up to two weeks after OPA gets the complaint for the status to show up on the tracker. Keep in mind that not all complaints receive case numbers, so they may not be searchable.