You have the right to make a complaint against a member of the Santa Monica Police Department for any improper conduct. California law requires this agency to have a procedure to investigate complaints by members of the public. You have the right to a written description of this procedure. This agency may find after the investigation that there is not enough evidence to warrant action on your complaint; even if that is the case, you have the right to make the complaint and have it investigated if you believe that a member of this Department behaved improperly. Private person complaints and any reports or findings related to complaints must be retained by this agency for at least five years. The Santa Monica Police Department will investigate all alleged acts of misconduct on the part of any member of the Police Department.
The supervisor of the subject employee(s) will determine if a violation of Department policy may have occurred and may need to contact you for more information or clarification of your allegations. Once the supervisor has enough information and believes a police violation may have occurred, he/she will send the information to the Internal Affairs Unit for a full investigation. At the end of that investigation, you will be notified of the final determination.
The supervisor may also find that the described behavior or allegations are not a policy violation and will inform the complainant. The supervisor may also address the allegations individually with the subject employee.
Individuals filing a complaint may remain anonymous, which means your name and contact information will only be shared with the Internal Affairs Unit. In most cases, a thorough Internal Affairs investigation cannot occur without further discussion with the complainant, making your contact information imperative for an investigation and to keep the complainant informed of its progress .
Below demographic data is only collected for statistical purposes only.