Use of Mediation with Citizen Complaints, revised 12 31 02

For a very useful handbook on establishing a mediation process, obtain the following publication:

Samuel Walker, Carol Archbold, and Leigh Herbst, Mediating Citizen Complaints Against Police Officers: A Guide for Police and Community Leaders, recently released by the COPS office. [http://www.usdoj.gov/cops/] 

Certain citizen complaints occur after encounters during which the citizen believes s/he has been treated with disrespect (discourtesy complaints), or encounters in which the citizen cannot understand why an officer took an action (procedural complaints).

Both internal and external investigations may be unsatisfactory in addressing these kinds of complaints for several reasons:

· the adversarial tone of the allegations and investigative process;

· the laws regarding personnel investigations and confidentiality;

· the limited and formal information released during and after investigations;

· the lengthy time to conduct an investigation and

· the sheer frustration of filing a simple complaint through a formal process that appears inflexible and consumes much time.

In these cases, an administrative investigation may force citizen and officer into adversarial postures when a more flexible, less formal process may enable each party to understand the other’s action. The complainant wants to be listened to with respect. They may seek an apology or an explanation why something happened. If these complaints can be resolved without full administrative investigations, it benefits all and improves community police relations.

Mediation may be the process of choice for these complaints. Mediation involves use of a neutral, trained mediator assisting two disagreeing parties as the parties talk and listen to one another in an attempt to reach a mutually satisfactory resolution.

To this end, various jurisdictions ask complainants and subject officers to explore mediation as an process through which to resolve the complaint.

At the NACOLE 2000 Conference, the Mediation Panel described several cities’ processes. The information listed below summarizes mediation resources outlined at the conference.

Barbara Attard, Berkeley Police Review Commission’s Director moderated the Mediation Panel. See her paper, “In Praise of Mediation,” in the NACOLE Review, Summer 2000. Contact her at Barbara.Attard@sanjoseca.gov.

Minneapolis’ Civilian Police Review Authority successfully mediated complaints. In 1999 with 114 complaints, they mediated 15 successfully, 7 unsuccessfully.

Todd Samolis, of Rochester, N.Y.’s Center for Dispute Settlement, described their conciliation / mediation process. He reported a 70% success rate with 200 complaints since 1984 and outlined the significantly shorter time it take to use this process (20 days) than the investigative process (56 days). He’s at Todd@cdsadr.org.

The San Diego Police Department spent several years building a mediation component to add to their complaint process. They have drafted policies and procedures for mediating civilian complaints. The mediation guide above has details of this program.

Knoxville has a conciliation process which Carol Scott, the complaints advisor, provides internally. While not mediation, Carol reports success in assisting complainants through her process. Contact her at cscott7544@aol.com.