Responsible City
Agency: Management Services
Key
Words:
Malicious, knowingly, complaint, police officer, damage
1. General
The Police Civilian Review
Board investigates allegations of misconduct by police officers. In order
to protect police officers from false, malicious, and/or frivolous complaints
filed with the Police Civilian Review Board, the ordinance also provides that
any person who knowingly files a complaint that is frivolous, malicious or false
is guilty of a Class C misdemeanor. Additionally, it provides that any
person knowingly filing a false, malicious or frivolous complaint is liable for
all costs and expenses incurred in investigating the complaint.
The
purpose of this rule is to provide information to the public on the consequences
of filing a malicious, false, or frivolous complaint against a police officer
with the Police Civilian Review Board. A complaint will only be covered by
this rule if the complainant knows or should have known that the complaint is
false and/or frivolous or is made with malice in an attempt to damage a police
officer.
2. Process for Determining Whether a Complaint is Malicious, False, and/or Frivolous
2.1 Once the Board Investigator has
reached a conclusion that a complaint is malicious, false, and/or frivolous, and
that the complainant knew or should have known the allegations were false and/or
frivolous or made maliciously with the intent to damage a police officer, the
Investigator will make a recommendation to a Board panel that the complainant
filing the malicious, false, and/pr frivolous complaint be referred to the City
Prosecutor with a recommendation for prosecution.
2.2 In formulating the
recommendation the Investigator will consider the following:
A. Whether any evidence
was generated during the investigation that supported the facts of the
allegation.
B. Whether there were
other witness(es) whose statement(s) either controvert or support complainant's
allegations.
C. Whether the
complainant appeared to make the complaint in an attempt to coerce the police
officer.
D. Whether the
complainant knew or should have known the complaint was
false.
E. Whether the
complainant knew or should have known that the police officer was acting within
police policy.
F. Complainant's
complaint history with the Police Department.
3. Actions of the Panel
3.1 If the Board panel determines
that a complaint was malicious, false, and/or frivolous, the chair of the panel
will contact the Board Chair.
3.2 If the Board Chair agrees that
a complaint was frivolous, he/she will direct the Investigator to prepare a
summary report for the City Prosecutor, containing the following
elements.
A. The allegation of
the complainant.
B. A brief summary of
the facts yielded by the investigation that were not supportive of the
allegation.
C. A brief summary of
the facts yielded by the investigation that did support the allegation, if
any.
D. The reason(s) the Board believes the complaint was malicious, false or frivolous.
E. Recommendation for prosecution.
3.3 Once the report is approved by
the Board Chair, it will be sent to the City Prosecutor with a copy going to the
complainant, the Police Chief, the Internal Affairs Unit, and the officer
involved.
3.4 The Board Chair will then
instruct the Investigator to dismiss the complaint and provide notice and advice
to the complainant, the Police Chief, the Internal Affairs Unit, and the officer
involved that the complaint has been referred to the City
Prosecutor.
3.5 The City Prosecutor will
determine whether it is appropriate to file criminal charges and/or whether to
attempt to secure reimbursement for costs incurred conducting the
investigation.
Current Reference: Salt Lake City Code 2.72
Effective Date: