Citizen Complaint Procedure
A Message from the Chief
Professional Standards serves to ensure the integrity of the agency--for the public, the employee and the agency. An employee’s ability to perform his or her duties is dependant upon the respect and confidence communities have for the employee/officer and law enforcement officers in general. Every employee must conduct themselves in a manner consistent with the integrity and trustworthiness expected of them by the public.
The Altamonte Springs Police Department subscribes to the Cannons of Police Ethics and the Law Enforcement Code of Ethics as adopted by the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
Law enforcement officers, mindful of their responsibility to the whole community, shall deal with individuals of the community in a manner calculated to instill respect for its laws and its police service. Law enforcement officers shall conduct their official life in a manner such as will inspire confidence and trust. Thus, they will be neither overbearing nor subservient, as no individual citizen has an obligation to stand in awe of them nor a right to command them. The officers shall give service where they can and require compliance with the law. They will do neither from personal preference or prejudice but rather as duly appointed officers of the law discharging their sworn obligation.
The Internal Affairs Section can be contacted Monday-Friday between the hours of 8:00am - 4:00pm. After hours, weekends and Holidays contact can be made with the on-duty Watch Commander by calling the non-emergency number (407) 339-2441 so your complaint can be immediately addressed.
Any person alleging misconduct on the part of a member with the police department will be asked to complete an Administrative Complaint Form detailing the inappropriate conduct or concern. The Complaint Form will then be forwarded to the Internal Affairs Section for review and research to determine what departmental policies have been violated or are in question. The complaint will then either be assigned to the appropriate employee’s supervisor (Supervisor’s Inquiry) to investigate or it will be investigated by the Internal Affairs Section. (Internal Inquiry).
During the investigation, you will be contacted for further details on the incident along with any witnesses. At the conclusion of the investigation, based on a preponderance of evidence, the complaint will be classified as follows:
Sustained-The allegation was supported by a preponderance of evidence to justify a reasonable conclusion that the incident occurred and constituted a violation.
Not Sustained-There was insufficient evidence to clearly prove or disprove the allegation.
Exonerated-The incident occurred but was justified.
Unfounded-The allegation was false or not factual.
Policy Failure-The allegation was true, but the employee was acting in the manner consistent with policy or a policy was non-existent.
All Administrative Inquiries are performed under the authority of the Chief of Police or his designee. The final authority to exonerate, declare unfounded, not sustain, sustain or declare a policy failure on any complaint rests solely with the Chief of Police.
There are three types of corrective action taken against the affected employee, should the complaint be sustained:
Supervisor’s Concern
Informal Personnel Action
a) Letter of Counseling
b) Notice of Deficiency
Formal Discipline
a) Formal Notice
b) Suspension
c) Demotion
d) Termination
Supervisor’s Concern is considered a verbal warning to the employee.
Informal Personnel Action is intended to be instructional or educational to the employee.
Formal Discipline is intended to be punitive in nature.
Obtaining a form
A complaint form can be easily obtained by clicking on the link below to download a form.
The complaint form should be as complete as possible before being mailed or forwarded to the Internal Affairs Section. Make sure daytime telephone numbers and home addresses are noted on the complaint form so the necessary follow up investigation can proceed in a timely fashion. During your complaint process, you will be asked if you swear or affirm that the factual allegation(s) made by you in the Administrative Complaint are, to the best of your knowledge and belief, true and based upon fact.
Florida Statutes 112.532(3) states in part that every law enforcement officer or correctional officer shall have the right to bring civil suit against any person, group of persons, or organization or corporation, or the head of such organization or corporation, for damages, either pecuniary or otherwise, suffered during the performance of the officer's official duties, for abridgment of the officer's civil rights arising out of the officer's performance of official duties, or for filing a complaint against the officer which the person knew was false when it was filed.
