Garner Police Department 2019 Annual Report Published August 2020 | Page 18

Complaint Investigation
THE GARNER POLICE DEPARTMENT investigates
all complaints made by citizens regardless of the
source of the complaint or how it is communicated
to us; complaints are typically deemed to be either
an allegation of serious misconduct or a performance
complaint. The department utilizes electronic tracking
software to record and track all complaints that are
brought to the attention of the department.
Allegations of serious misconduct are complaints that
allege corruption, misuse of force, violation of the
law, violation of an individual’s civil rights, or a serious
breach of department policy or employee rules of
conduct.
Performance complaints typically
allege an inappropriate action or
response by an employee, improper
operation of a police vehicle,
violation of a department policy or
employee rules of conduct, or any
other act or failure to act that does
not rise to the level of an allegation
of misconduct.
Upon conclusion of an investigation,
each complaint is assigned one of
the following findings:
During 2019,
there were five
instances of citizen
concerns, in which
no policy violation
or misconduct was
alleged, but the
citizen was still initially
unsatisfied with their
contact with an officer.
Sustained – Findings indicate there is sufficient evidence
to prove the allegation or complaint.
Non-Sustained – Findings indicate there is insufficient
evidence to prove or disprove the allegation or
complaint.
Exonerated – Findings indicate there is sufficient
evidence to prove the incident occurred, but the
actions or demeanor of the employee was proper,
lawful and/or within policy.
Unfounded – Findings indicate there is sufficient
evidence to prove the allegation or complaint did not
occur or was demonstrably untrue or false.
Policy Failure – Findings indicate there is sufficient
evidence to prove the allegation or complaint
occurred, but the actions of the employee were
within GPD policy when the incident took place. This
finding indicates the policy is faulty and in need of
review or revision.
During 2019 there were five instances of citizen
concerns, in which no policy violation or misconduct
was alleged, but the citizen was still initially unsatisfied
with their contact with an officer. Four
additional complaints were filed by
citizens that did rise to the level a
performance complaint. Seven distinct
allegations were made against officers
involving the respective four incidents.
One allegation was not sustained, and
six allegations were unfounded.
During 2019, 13 instances of internal
performance complaints occurred
with a total of 14 allegations made
by supervisors when officers were
observed to have violated policy. Of
those internally initiated investigations, 12 were
sustained and 2 were unfounded. One additional
performance complaint was generated by an outside
agency. After a thorough investigation, this allegation
was sustained.
The rate of policy violations is extremely low given that
the department had a minimum of 27,787 documented
citizen contacts (as measured by incident reports,
calls for service, citations, and arrests). In summary,
approximately one out of every 2,500 citizen contacts
resulted in an external complaint or citizen concern, or
less than 0.04% of all contacts.
18
GARNER POLICE DEPARTMENT 2019 ANNUAL REPORT