DPD Citizen Complaints

Please note that you cannot see the date fields on this page due to a technical issue. To see the Report Date and Date Closed, please access the via [ArcGIS Online], or download the dataset from this page. This dataset reflects all citizen complaints received by the Detroit Police Department (DPD) and the Board of Police Commissioners from January 1, 2012 to the present. There is a 28-day delay between when a new complaint is filed and when it is posted to the Open Data Portal. The data are provided by the Office of the Chief Investigator (OCI), under the direction of the Board of Police Commissioners (BOPC). The OCI receives, investigates, and resolves complaints regarding non-criminal allegations of misconduct against the DPD and its personnel. Each case is allotted 90 days to complete an investigation. If OCI finds that a complaint is criminal in nature, it is transferred to DPD for further investigated. This dataset contains information about the nature of individual complaints, demographics for both the citizen filing the complaint and the officer against which the complaint is filed, and the resulting finding from the OCI investigation. In order to protect the privacy of both the officer and the citizen filing the complaint, no personally identifiable information is displayed. Each row in the dataset represents an allegation. A single complaint may have one or more allegations and is therefore represented by one or more rows. Allegations associated with the same complaint share same BPC Case Numbers and Citizen Complaint Report Numbers. Allegation Type Definitions: Arrest - Complaint associated with an improper or unjustified restraint of a person's liberty. Includes formal arrests and other types of detention. Demeanor - The bearing, gesture, language, or other action of a DPD staff member alleged to be offensive, of doubtful social propriety, or giving the appearance of conflict of interest, misuse of influence, or lack of jurisdiction or authority. Entry - Entry into a building or onto property improper and/or excessive force used against property to gain entry. Force - Use or threatened use of force against a person. Harassment - When an officer misuses their authority to threaten, intimidate, or coerce a person based on a factor such as race, attire, sex, or age. Procedure - Complaint regarding other actions in violation of DPD rules, regulations, procedures or policies, or the Law Enforcement Code of Ethics. Property - Complaint of property lost or damaged while in police custody or confiscated through police action. Search - Search of a person or a person's property was improper, violated established police procedure, or was unjustified. Service - Complaint regarding the lack, tardiness or inadequacy of police service. Findings Definitions: Unfounded - The investigation revealed no evidence to support that the incident complained of actually occurred. Sustained - A preponderance of the evidence shows that the alleged conduct did occur and the actions of the officer violated DPD policies, procedures, or training. Exonerated - A preponderance of the evidence shows that the alleged conduct did occur but did not violate DPD policies, procedures or training. Administrative Closure - Dispositions for complaints that: duplicates, referred to an outside agency, made against an officer or employee who is no longer employed by DPD, the alleged conduct does not violate the law or DPD policy, and lack sufficient detail of the officers involved or insufficient details within the complaint. No Charge - When evidence concludes that the allegation did not meet the threshold to dispense disciplinary action. Inconclusive - When there is insufficient evidence to decide whether the alleged misconduct occurred. Void - When the investigation is halted due to but not limited to a retracted complaint, duplicate submission, or a submission in error. Should you have questions about this dataset, you may contact the Office of the Chief Investigator at (313) 596-2499 or go to their [website]. A [visualization of DPD Citizen Complaints] is available from the open data Analytics Hub.