Citizen Complaints In The Police Department

1344 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Media influence about police

In today’s society people file citizen complaints on anything and everything, whether it is worth the complaint or not. A citizen complaint is the action taken by a citizen to bring the attention to a police department so they can take action or inaction that the citizen considered to be contrary to law, proper procedure, good order, or in some manner prejudicial to the citizen, the Police Department, or to the country as a whole. Citizen complaints help the police make the community a safer place for everyone. Sadly, these days, a lot of citizen complaints are filed against police officers or departments. How many of those filed complaints are actually true. False complaints are a real thing but they are not very common. Our society needs to be educated on the law so we can avoid these issues. For the citizen complaint process to properly work, people need to be informed on how to submit one. Also why are citizen complaints filed on police more often than other things. Even though there is a lot of complaints filed on police there are people that will not file complaints on police because they are too scared. There is a lot of factors that could go …show more content…

A false complaint is rare but, it does happen. False complaints are usually filed against police officers themselves. There is a bill that’s does criminalize people who file false complaints against cops. Each state has a different punishment for false accusations. In Texas, if someone are found guilty, they can be fined 4,000 dollars or be sentenced up to one year in jail. There is also the possibility that they could have to pay a fine and go to jail. Filing false complaints is not okay, but when false complaints are filed against police it makes it harder for them to get out that situation. The media gets involved and then the whole country knows about the officer did, even if the officer was doing it to protect himself/

Show More
Related

  • NYPD Whistleblower Retaliation – Detective Labeled A Rat

    560 Words  | 2 Pages

    In 2005 NYPD Detective, first grade, James E. Griffith called internal affairs to report he was being pressured by a fellow officer to lie and take the blame during an internal inquiry for the mishandling of a homicide investigation by his unit (Goldstein, 2012). Another detective and union official claimed in his deposition that Griffin was a rat because he went to internal affairs instead of the union (Marzulli, 2013). According to the United States District Court Eastern District of New York’s memorandum of decision the retaliation was immediate, included adverse personnel actions and continued though out his career in different units until Detective Griffith was effectively forced to retire due to the harassment in 2009 (James Griffin v. the City of New York, n.d.). Griffin eventually filed a legal sit against The City of New York, the NYPD and two of the officers involved individually. This case study will analyze the incident, whistleblower laws and the ethical challenges involved.

    Read More

  • US Metropolitan Police Department Case Study

    1249 Words  | 3 Pages

    Chapter 10 was a good read, the role organizational structure plays within an organization of all sizes is very important. The stories and organizational charts used in this chapter was interesting and informative. I like how the author used the organizational structure for U.S. Metropolitan Police Department, Washington D.C. to show readers the importance of organizational structure when it comes to following commands within a major organization that deals with homeland security. Following, September 11, 2011 terrorist attack, homeland security and MPD was forced to make changes in the organizational structural. Because the order of communication between the national security and the police department wasn’t communicated inefficiently between

    Read More

  • Blue Wall Of Silence Essay

    1910 Words  | 4 Pages

    However, police whistleblower is unfortunately all too rare. In the rare cases when other cops do muster the strength to and integrity to report gross misconduct of another officer, the whistleblower is often times ostracized, intimidated, threats made to the security of their jobs, and threats to their lives. For instance, Mr. Barron Bowling was awarded $830,000 due to the life long brain damage from a beating he received from a Drug Enforcement Administration agent Timothy McCue in Kansas City, KS. Timothy McCue claimed that Mr. Bowling resisted arrest. Fortunately a police detective names Max Seifert had the strength to report the wrong doings of the DEA agent. In doing so, he said reported that Timothy McCue threatened to kill Mr. Bowling, called him White Trash, and called him a system dodging inbred hillbilly. Members of the department destroyed photos of the physical damage done to Mr Bowling. Officer Seifert took the statement of witnesses and re-documented the physical and presented it to officials. For being a whistleblower, officer Seifert was forced into early retirement, lost a sizeable part of his pension, and retirement health insurance. In addition, his name and service was slandered and

    Read More

  • Solutions To Police Brutality

    1764 Words  | 4 Pages

    possible solutions to this problem would be firing the officer, giving them jail time, or even

    Read More

  • The Problem Of Police Brutality In The Media

    1705 Words  | 4 Pages

    Police misconduct is as rampant as ever in America, and it has become a fixture of the news cycle. Police brutality is the use of any force exceeding that reasonably necessary to accomplish a lawful police purpose. The media is inevitably drawn toward tales of conflict, hence why there are so many crime and police stories on the news. Despite the increasing frequency of misbehaving cops, many Americans still maintain a high respect for the man in uniform. Still, police misconduct is a systemic problem, not just an anecdotal one. Here are some reasons why it is a problem. First, many departments don’t provide adequate training in nonviolent solutions. With this, police are unfamiliar with what to do in a non-violent situation, often resorting

    Read More

  • Racial Profiling by Law Enforcement

    754 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...olving officers, officer transfers, disciplinary actions against officers, and various civil and criminal claims against individual officers or against the police department as a whole.

    Read More

  • Essay On Police And Body Cameras

    813 Words  | 2 Pages

    In more extreme cases, officers may obstruct justice and lie under the oath to save themselves or a fellow officer from discipline and prosecution (Holbert & Rosa 69). Despite police not taking fault in their actions and going against the oath, it gives government official a bad reputation in the moto of protecting and serving their

    Read More

  • Research Paper On Police Brutality

    1919 Words  | 4 Pages

    Police misconduct is as rampant as ever in America, and it has become a fixture of the news cycle. Police brutality is the use of any force exceeding that reasonably necessary to accomplish a lawful police purpose. The media is inevitably drawn toward tales of conflict, hence why there are so many crime and police stories on the news. Despite the increasing frequency of misbehaving cops, many Americans still maintain a high respect for the man in uniform. Still, police misconduct is a systemic problem, not just an anecdotal one. Here are some reasons why it is a problem. First, many departments do not provide adequate training in nonviolent solutions. With this, police are unfamiliar with what to

    Read More

  • What Are The Pros And Cons Of A Civilian Review Board

    1154 Words  | 3 Pages

    Without them many of the reported complaints would have not been reported creating a higher number in the dark figure crime. Also reporting a complaint does not necessarily mean you will be creating a lawsuit against an officer. Each complaint goes through rigorous rulings and steps in order for it to be a serious offense or crime. Like any other crime, you’ll have to report a statement in person describing what has happened, where it happened and the description of the officer. Next they will asks witnesses about your account to make sure you’re telling the truth and to add evidence to your story. After the witness statements they will begin to gather evidence. Being that they have subpoena powers, they’re able to access many documents that authoritative figures can have including police department records. They will then conduct multiple interviews with the police officer who is likely to be charged and his/her witnesses. Like dealing in a court office, police officers must appear to the civilian review board to be interviewed and they have to be honest with answering questions. When they 've collected all their evidence and statements, the case is prepared by an investigator who then proceeds to give it to the board. Three board members review the case and decided whether the police officer was unjust or not. If they believe the police office was being unjust, the case is taken to the police

    Read More

  • Annotated Bibliography On Police Brutality

    1110 Words  | 3 Pages

    Authors of this document had written an evidence that proves the tensions between the minorities and the police. In their article, there were unanswered questions of the behavior of the police. Statistics were involved explaining how characteristics of police and communities affect the incidence of filed complaints on police violence. There were two hypotheses on threatening minorities made relatively to complaints. These authors had made analytical theories behind

    Read More

  • Police Corruption and Misconduct

    1678 Words  | 4 Pages

    Police corruption and misconduct come apparent in many different forms. A basic definition for police corruption is, when an officer gets involved in offenses where the officer uses his or her position, by act or omission, to obtain improper financial benefit. The main reason for such corruption is typically for personal gain, such as bribery. Police abuse of authority occurs in three different general areas such as physical abuse, psychological abuse, and legal abuse. Physical abuse is such abuse where one uses excessive force or physical harassment. The psychological abuse occurs through disrespect, harassment, ridicule, excessive stops, or intimidation. Finally, legal abuse is abuse that occurs during unlawful search and seizure or manufacturing evidence (Pollock, 2012). One source describes police corruption in eight different ways. They include: corruption of authority, kickbacks, opportunistic theft, shakedowns, protection of illegal acts, the fix, direct criminal acts, and internal payoffs (Roebuck & Barker, 1974).

    Read More

  • Police Misconduct and Corruption

    2505 Words  | 6 Pages

    Within our police system in America, there are gaps and loopholes that give leeway to police officials who either abuse the authority given to them or do not represent the ethical standards that they are expected to live up to by society. Because of the nature of police work, there is a potential for deterioration of these ethical and moral standards through deviance, misconduct, corruption, and favoritism. Although these standards are set in place, many police officers are not held accountable for their actions and can easily get by with the mistreatment of others because of their career title. While not every police abuses his or her power, the increasingly large percentage that do present a problem that must be recognized by the public as well as those in charge of police departments throughout our country. Police officials are abusing their power and authority through three types of misconduct known as malfeasance, misfeasance, and nonfeasance and these types are being overlooked by management personnel who rarely intervene even though they know what is happening. Misconduct is wrong because it violates rights and causes people to be wrongly accused of crimes or be found not guilty and set free when they are still an endangerment to other people. The public needs to be educated on what is happening in the police system in hopes that someone will speak out to protect citizens from being violated by police officers.

    Read More

  • We Must Stop Police Brutality

    835 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to the National Police Academy, in the past year, there have been over 7,000 reports of police misconduct; fatalities have been linked to more than 400 of these cases (Gul). Police brutality is often triggered by disrespect towards the police officer. The most noticeable form of brutality is physical, where Chemical gas, batons, tasers, and guns, can be used for physical intimidation or to actually hurt people. Police brutality can also take the form of verbal abuse or psychological intimidation. It seems reasonable to understand that sometimes the police are put into situations where excessive force may be needed. But, because some officers use these extreme actions in situations when it is not, police brutality should be addressed and looked into by both the police and the public. For instance, a police officer who beats a nonviolent protester with a baton would probably be accused of excessive use of force, under the argument that the police officer probably could have dealt with the situation less violently.

    Read More

  • Relationship Between The Police And The Citizens

    1270 Words  | 3 Pages

    Understanding the issue is just part of what’s needed. The purpose of the section is to identify a solution, or as may be the case, solutions. So, the question here is what can we do to improve the relationship between the police and the citizens. Over the years there has been many books written and studies conducted, all in an effort to find the best way to improve police and citizen relationships. To do this we must look at all available information. According to The Study Circles Resource Center’s Protecting Communities, Serving the Public: Police and residents building relationships to work together (2000), “Bring police and community together. We need to meet not just when there is a crisis or a big crime. We should do things to build relationships that are not so full of conflict. Then it would be easier to work together. We can build respect and trust for one another when we make time to meet with and learn about each other. This is the only way to do it.

    Read More

  • Police Corruption

    675 Words  | 2 Pages

    Police corruption is a nationwide problem that has been going on for many years. Not only is corruption a problem on our own U.S. soil, but police practices of corruption go as far east as Europe and Asia. Many studies, polls and examinations were taken to find out how exactly what the general publics’ opinions of the police are. Officers receive a lot of scrutiny over this issue, but for good reason.

    Read More

More about Citizen Complaints In The Police Department

Open Document