NEW ALBANY POLICE DEPARTMENT - New Albany, Ohio

NEW ALBANY POLICE DEPARTMENT
Directive 5.2 - Complaints/Compliments
5.2.1 Policy
The Police Department provides a Complaint/Compliment form (PD-99-121) (Addendum C) that
will be utilized to record the specifics of complaints or compliments. The procedures for
registering complaints are outlined in the “Registering a Compliment or Complaint” pamphlet
(Addendum D). Generally, the following procedures are used for all Police Department
employees:
Non-criminal complaints from a citizen must be filed in writing (on the prescribed form) within
sixty days after the alleged event occurred to be investigated. The form must be signed by
the complainant and returned by mail or in person.
Alleged criminal complaints and/or complaints of serious misconduct, including those from
anonymous sources, will be investigated at all times.
A juvenile must be accompanied by his/her parent or legal guardian to file a complaint and
the parent’s/guardian’s signature is required on the complaint form.
Third party complaints that do not allege criminal misconduct will not be accepted by the
Police Department.
The Chief of Police will maintain a file of all formal complaints and compliments.
5.2.2 Complaint Investigations
Any Police Department employee who receives a complaint from a citizen will contact the on-duty
supervisor. If the supervisor is unable to resolve a minor complaint or if the complaint is serious
in nature, the complainant will be advised of the proper procedures in filing a formal complaint.
This may include providing the complainant a pamphlet and/or Complaint/Compliment form on
which to formally record the information. If a supervisor or Chief of Police is not on-duty, the
complainant’s information will be taken by a Departmental employee so that he/she may be
contacted by the next on-duty supervisor.
Once a formal written complaint has been made, the supervisor having administrative authority
over the employee will be responsible for the investigation. If the complaint is directed against a
supervisor, the complaint will be assigned to the Chief of Police. If the complaint is directed
against the Chief of Police, the City Manager is responsible for the investigation.
Upon receipt of a written complaint, the investigating supervisor shall interview the
complainant(s), involved employee(s), and witness(es), as soon as possible. Complaint
investigative procedures for sworn union personnel are outlined in CBA Article 9 (Section 9.1).
Complaints of a minor nature shall be brought to the attention of the Chief as soon as possible.
Complaints of a serious nature and/or those alleging criminal conduct will require that the Chief
be contacted immediately. The Chief of Police is then responsible for contacting the City Manager
and City Attorney as appropriate and as soon as possible.
Complaint investigations should be completed within thirty days upon receipt of the written
complaint. This time limit may be extended by the Chief of Police in serious cases. Completed
investigations will be forwarded to the Chief of Police and will include a recommendation of
appropriate disciplinary measures to be taken, if any. Pursuant to CBA Article 10 (Section 10.4),
all sworn union personnel shall be afforded a pre-disciplinary conference with the Chief of Police
wherein the employee will be given an opportunity to respond to the charges.
Supervisors are responsible for the issuance of incident reviews (non-union personnel, only),
counseling, remedial training and oral and written reprimand recommendations. The Chief of
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