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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
    Posts
    6

    Default Can the Police Use Information from a Complaint Against a Person Who Made a Complaint

    My question involves civil rights in the State of: City of Saint Paul, Minnesota

    I filed a complaint against an officer with the Police Civilian Internal Affairs Review Committee in January 2018. Then 6 weeks later I received a ticket in the mail, with the aid of information taken from my complaint. The officer had issued me a ticket in my wife's name, including her sex, height, color of eyes, and blonde hair. The only thing he got right was my race, Black. The officer admitted under oath in court that he made out the new ticket from information obtained from my complaint. The judge said you did what?! The officer repeated that he obtained my information from my complaint. The judge called a recess. I think she was trying to send a message that something was not right.

    I am not a lawyer. It has been 4 months since I filed my complaint. The only statement from the city is that the officer has the right to contest the decision through arbitration. A decision they have not released. They have refused to respond to questions about the use of information taken from a citizen's complaint against him. So I would like to know if it is standard or common practice for information taken from a complaint to be used against a citizen. Does that not create a chilling effect for citizens seeking redress?

    Thanks.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
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    Behind a Desk
    Posts
    98,846

    Default Re: Can the Police Use Information from a Complaint Against a Person Who Made a Compl

    Depending upon how you made the complaint, and the police agency's procedures for handling complaints, that could be an issue of a violation of the law or procedure; or it could be that there was no extension of confidentiality to your complaint or that any violation of procedure would be a disciplinary issue and not something that would affect an amended ticket.

    Rules governing the basic requirements for police department complaint procedures can be found here. I didn't see anything requiring confidentiality for a complainant's identity, although a police department would nonetheless be able to grant anonymity under circumstances defined by its policies.

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