Complaints about police
You are entitled to complain whenever you are concerned about the conduct of a police officer. However, you need to bear in mind that the police have to enforce the law. Ask yourself first if it is the police officer’s behaviour that has upset you or the law that the officer has had to enforce.
- For examples of unsatisfactory police conduct, see What is misconduct?
Who to complain to
Whether it’s best to complain to the CMC or the QPS depends on the nature of the complaint.
QPS deals exclusively with customer service issues or breaches of discipline such as:
- a slow response to your call
- rudeness
- failure of an officer to identify him/herself.
You can complain about more serious matters to either the QPS or the CMC. The QPS is legally obliged to notify us of all such complaints reported to it. We have extensive powers to investigate the most serious cases ourselves, and can monitor the way the QPS deals with any others.
It is not always easy to determine the appropriate category, but you don’t need to be concerned about this. Just report you complaint and we will decide which category it falls into and how it should be dealt with.
- See Police discipline system for details of our respective roles in this process.
What to include in your complaint
To help us decide how best to deal with your complaint, please tell us
- what happened
- when it happened
- where it happened
- who said what to whom
- whether anyone saw what happened, other than yourself and the police (give us their contact details, if you have them)
- whether you have proof of any damage, injury or any other useful evidence (such as photographs)
- whether you have reported the matter to any other agency.
You should also give your own contact details so that we can let you know how we dealt with your complaint, or ask you any necessary follow-up questions.
Finally, we would like you to tell us what outcome you are seeking, for example:
- an apology
- some action that might prevent recurrence of the problem, or
- disciplinary action against the officer concerned?
Anonymous complaints
You don’t have to give your name; however, as complaints are more difficult to investigate without detailed information, please give us an alias and a contact point if you want to remain anonymous so we can get back to you if necessary.
How to lodge your complaint
You can lodge your complaint:
- at the relevant police station. Please address mailed complaints to the Officer in Charge
- with the CMC by phone, fax, email, letter, in person (by appointment) or online.
