[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Harrisburg
by Ord. No. 27-1987; amended in its entirety 5-24-2016 by Ord. No. 9-2016. Subsequent amendments noted where
applicable.]
CROSS-REFERENCES
Civil Service: see 3rd Class Code, § 4401 et seq.
(11 Pa. C.S.A. § 14401 et seq.).
A.
In order to ensure full and fair investigation of citizens'
complaints against police officers and to create a system for formally
recording and accounting for such investigations, any and all complaints
will henceforth be initiated by the filing of a formal sworn complaint
which shall contain the following information:
(1)
Name of complainant.
(2)
Name and/or description of the officer alleged to have committed
the improper act(s) complained of to the best of the complainant's
knowledge.
(3)
Date and approximate time of incident.
(4)
Description of act(s) complained of in sufficient detail so
as to permit a reasonable investigation.
(5)
Address and telephone number, if available, of complainant.
(6)
Name(s), address(es) and telephone number(s) of eyewitnesses
to support allegations of complaint.
B.
A citizen who makes a complaint against a police officer but fails
to file a formal complaint in connection therewith shall be informed
by Internal Affairs or the Chief of Police's designee that all
citizens are afforded the right to have allegations against police
officers officially investigated by way of filing a formal sworn complaint.
C.
The complaint shall be made on a form to be provided by the Chief
of Police; one copy shall be retained by the complainant, one copy
shall be provided immediately to the Chief of Police, and one copy
shall be forwarded to the police officer under investigation, who,
consistent with the prevailing collective bargaining agreement between
the City and Fraternal Order of Police, Capital City Lodge No. 12,
may be required to draft a formal response to such charges as alleged.
D.
The complaint shall be sworn and attested to in the same manner as
a criminal complaint and shall be given an identifying code number
so that it may be referred to and/or tracked throughout all phases
of investigation and/or disposition.
Forms for citizen complaints shall be made available at the
office of the Chief of Police, by way of electronic mail, first-class
United States Postal Service, City staff located at the atrium reception
areas, and on the City's website. A request for the complaint
form can be made by calling 311 within the City limits, by calling
the City's nonemergency number at 717-255-3040, by visiting the
reception area in the atrium of City Hall, or by visiting the office
of the Chief of Police.
A.
All complaints shall be fully investigated by the Internal Affairs
Unit or by the Chief of Police's designee. Upon completion of
the investigation, the Internal Affairs Unit or the assigned designee
shall issue a formal report which shall include a summary of the facts
gathered and a recommendation for disposition of the complaint. Such
recommendation for disposition shall be expressed in the following
manner:
B.
The formal report shall be forwarded to and reviewed by the Chief
of Police, who shall thereafter determine, among other things, whether
or not disciplinary action is warranted. If discipline is to be imposed
upon the police officer, the Chief of Police shall fix such penalty
consistent with existing schedules and procedures and the civil service
provisions of the Third Class City Code.
C.
The Chief of Police shall provide written notification to the complainant
of the final disposition of the complaint. Those categories of recommended
disposition enumerated in this section as applicable to the formal
report shall likewise be applicable to the Chief of Police's
written notification of final disposition to the complainant. Said
notification shall further include a provision that the complainant
has the opportunity to review the outcome of the investigation with
designated police personnel or a mutually agreed upon third party.
Under the supervision of the Chief of Police, the Internal Affairs
Unit or Chief of Police's designee shall compile a quarterly
report to be presented to City Council summarizing the total number
of citizens' complaints filed during the preceding quarter. The
report will also indicate the particulars of the complaints, including
but not limited to race of complainant, type of alleged misconduct
and disposition of complaint. The quarterly report shall be compiled
in such a manner so as to ensure against and protect from disclosure
any and all information which may, by its nature, be confidential
or otherwise privileged.
