Citizens’ Complaints Against Peace Officers

By Robert Phillips, Deputy District Attorney (Ret).

For a citizen’s complaint against a peace officer to be accepted and investigated, the citizen must first read and sign an acknowledgment that the filing of a false citizen complaint is a crime. 

One legislatively imposed means by which we keep law enforcement honest and discourage the use of excessive force is the availability of the citizen’s complaint process.  (See Pen. Code § 832.5.) California law requires law enforcement agencies to accept and investigate complaints made by private citizens against peace officers. (Subd. (a)(1) of P.C. § 832.5)  Recognizing that complaints from the public must all be investigated, and that the results of any such investigation are to be retained by the concerned law enforcement agency for at least five years even when the complaint is not sustained (15 years when it is sustained.  See subd. (b) of section 832.5), the mere allegation of misconduct—whether founded or not—has the potential of imposing lasting negative effects upon an officer’s assignments and career in general.  In fact, there is evidence that some gang members have in the past capitalized on this fact, abusing the process by using repeated false complaints as a means of forcing the removal or transfer of certain annoying gang enforcement officers.  For this reason, the Legislature saw fit to enact Pen. Code § 148.6(a)(1), making it a crime (albeit a misdemeanor only) to file a knowingly false allegation of misconduct against a peace officer.  Subd. (a)(2) of section 148.6 adds the requirement that before a law enforcement agency can accept a citizen’s ....

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