The brutal beating recently suffered by 15 year-old, Brandon Johnson at the hands of Indianapolis Police Department (\u201cIMPD\u201d) officers, provides the inspiration for this article. Although there are many police officers who \u201cserve and protect\u201d us on a daily basis without much appreciation or attention, stories of police misconduct have become all too common over the last several years. As an attorney, I certainly have had many people visit my office and complain about being mistreated by police officers. However, I do not know anyone who has gone beyond merely complaining to filing a formal complaint against IMPD (or other law enforcement agencies). One reason could be because most people simply do not know how to file a formal complaint against a police officer. So the remainder of this article will cover the complaint process. Several things are important to know. First, if you believe that you have been the victim of police misconduct, you may begin the process of filing a formal complaint by contacting the Citizens Police Complaint Office (\u201cCPCO\u201d) at 317.327.3440 to schedule an interview to file a formal complaint of misconduct. Second, you may also file an informal complaint by writing: Brian Reeder, Executive Director, 200 E. Washington Street, Suite 1921, Indianapolis, IN 46204. Third, all formal complaints must be filed within sixty (60) days of the alleged misconduct. Once a formal complaint is received, it is initially forwarded to IMPD for an investigation. The complaint is then reviewed by the Citizens Police Complaint Board (\u201cCPCB\u201d) a twelve (12) person consisting of nine (9) voting civilian members and three (3) non-voting police officers. The CPCB will then set the matter for a public hearing and depending on the outcome, the CPCB can: 1) order the Executive Director of CPCO to conduct an independent investigation on the complaint; 2) CPCB can conduct an informal administrative hearing; or 3) Order the Executive Director to mediate the complaint informally with the Chief of Police. If you do not receive a satisfactory outcome to your complaint, you can always consult an attorney to discuss taking legal action. Frederick Douglass, said it best, “If there is no struggle, there is no progress\u2026Power concedes nothing without a demand (or complaint). It never did and it never will.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The brutal beating recently suffered by 15 year-old, Brandon Johnson at the hands of Indianapolis Police Department (\u201cIMPD\u201d) officers, provides the inspiration for this article. Although there are many police officers who \u201cserve and protect\u201d us on a daily basis without much appreciation or attention, stories of police misconduct have become all too common over […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-latest-news","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n