Have you ever complained to or complimented the police?

Question

If so what happened?

If you are an officer who has been complained about or complimented what happened?

I understood that officers can be issued fines for not following duties correctly and that letters of compliment are kept on personal files. Is this correct?

Answer 1

I have complimented,and have much respect for the work they do.

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

Hello there... I have been complained about because of my manner whilst on duty. I was tasked with searching two addresses for a 15 year old missing lad at 2 in the morning. The first family, even though I had woken them, were happy for me to come into their home and look around and even thanked me for doing my job well as they would expect me to do it if their child had gone missing. The second family (I adopted exactly the same approach), were extremely unhappy and complained that I had woken them up and were very arrogant towards me and kept reminding me of what time it was and "didn't I have anything better to do". It turned out that they were hiding the child and got him out a back door as I was going in the front. I was still interviewed and still have the complaint on my record 3 years after being found to have done nothing wrong, just for doing my job.

...and yes, both complaints and letters of appreciation are kept on file somewhere at Police HQ.

Answer 4

Officers are subject to progressive disipline if a complaint filed against them is "Sustained" by an investigation by either the officers supervisor for a PC ( Personnel Complaint) or in cases where criminal activity is suspected, the Internal Affairs unit.

A PC is an incident involving being rude or not doing their job and generally results in a minimum of a written reprimand to suspension. A majority of PC's are misunderstandings between a citizens preceived idea of an officers duty and what an officer has the actual power to do and are unfounded.

Criminal IA complaints may result in suspension or termination.

Generally PC's remain in an officers record for 2 years but sustained IA complaints are permanent.

Citizen and Department commendations usually remain in an officers file permanently also.

I believe it is impossible for an officer doing his job to make everyone happy and PC's are a fact of life for even the best officers. The whole key is the number of PC's an officer gets in a period of time. Obviously an officer that accumulates dozens of them a year bears a close watch to see if he is fit to continue in the job but someone to get 2 or 3 a year is normal.

Your question was what happened to me. I had maybe 10 unfounded PC's and one sustained PC in a 25 year police career which resulted in a writtren reprimand for calling somebody "Stupid". My bad! In the same time period I had over 150 citizen commendations and 10 department commendations
that didn't amount to one additional penny on my paycheck but actually made me feel pretty good.

Answer 5

There are "good cops" out there and there are "bad cops" out there. I've seen both. I've complimented cops and I've complained about cops. Just like I've complimented some Dr.'s and complained about some.

Most of the police departments I've seen do keep copies of compliments or complaints in the officer's files. It helps them track who needs rewarding and who needs to go. As for the fines... generally if an officer gets caught screwing up they can be disciplined. The severity of the discipline varies by offense and department.

Answer 6

Both, I have had good and bad experiences with the police (or gardai as they are called in Ireland) I suppose it depends on individual personalities. Two examples: they caught two people who broke into my house within half an hour of it happening, which under the circumstances was amazing, but I was also accused by two rather gung-ho officers of a crime I did not commit. In fact I was trying to remedy a situation, but I wasn't charged, because after much abuse from them they realised I wasn't to blame, they didn't apologise. Two examples I like to cite when talking about the police. Personally I think most police forces in the world, the ones that are not incredibly corrupt anyway, get too much abuse, 90% of them seem genuinely committed and want to do a good job.

Answer 7

yes once sent a letter to west yorkshires chief constable. i went to a football match and parked my car alongside others. these two coppers stood on the street corner actually said hello when we passed them about 10 feet away from where we parked. when we came out of the ground the cars had parking tickets on them. the letter advised the chief constable that if the force was really so skint that he should as for a donation an not try to rob members of the public in this way. i got a reply stating that the area in which we parked had been coned that morning. on investigation it was found that the cones had been thrown over a nearby wall. the ticket was never paid but i did get stopped by the police 4 times in the following month and never a charge made for anything.

Answer 8

I work for a Police Dept. I am a dispatcher for them and for 911. And to answer your question, yes, if they are complimented, they are either verbally made aware of this, or if the person or persons that are giving the compliment does so by letter, this will then go into their files. The same with any complaints.

Answer 9

Police officers, like every one else who works for the government have rules and regulations they must follow. If they fail to follow the rules and regulations, they are disciplined. - not by a fine, but by a written censure, a suspension without pay or even termination.
If you write a commendation about an officer, it is usually read by his superior officers and then placed in his personnel file. If he seeks a promotion later in his career, a letter of commendation from a citizen may help him get it.
People writing letters of appreciation, or even just saying "thank you" are rare.

Answer 10

If you file a complaint against a police officer you will be harassed until you leave the area and if you are in a small town all of their friends will be out to get you. If you write a letter of compliment the officer will receive a letter from the chief and it will be placed in the officers personnel file.

Answer 11

Every time I have dealt with the police, if I think they have handled themselves well, I am likely to call a Sergeant and let them know. I have great respect for the police in my town. They are great examples of what peace officers are.

I have called and complained on an officer for reckless driving. I don't know what came of it and frankly, it doesn't matter. The supervisor was informed and now the ball is in his court.