Got Complaints, Kudos For Newton Police? What To Know

NEWTON, MA — If you've had a bad experience with a Newton police officer recently, now is the time to file a complaint, the Newton Police Department announced Thursday. But not over email or online.

In compliance with national accreditation standards, Newton police have to remind citizens once a year of their right to file complaints — or compliments. So they've announced just how you can submit a complaint verbally or by taking pen to paper and sending it into the station.

The old-school approach hasn't prevented some people from complaining.

Last year the department received eight formal complaints against police officers, of those, none of them were deemed founded or needing discipline. Five instances were exonerated, in two of the cases, the complainants changed their minds and withdrew their complaint and one instance of reported rudeness was ruled "not sustained."

In 2016 the Newton Police Department received 21 complaints about officers, of which 10 were ruled exonerated, six as unfounded, four as sustained, according to police data. One complaint was withdrawn.

In 2017 the department received 11 complaints. Of these, four were closed as exonerated, three as unfounded and four as sustained, according to police data. (By way of comparison, there were two complaints sent to the Brookline Police Department, which has a more complicated process).

In 2018 police received 13 complaints, six for rudeness, two for racial profiling, and others included inappropriate behavior, inaccurate reports, and one about an officer sleeping in a parking lot. Seven were exonerated, in two of the complaints of racial profiling the complainant changed their minds and withdrew the complaint. Two complaints were ruled "not sustained" and one - an instance where someone reported a detail officer sitting in a car on the phone was ruled "sustained."

No way to complain online?

There's no official email to send a complaint to, Newton Police told Patch in 2018, although they did not rule that out in the future. In 2019, police added instructions on how to make a complaint over the phone. This year, as with last there is a spot on the police website where residents can give "Citizen Feedback." It offers a drop down menu for subjects such as "Thank you" or "personal" or "neighborhood" or "other."

It's not clear if those count toward the official complaints or compliments.

If you're more of an email or online form type of person, there is still the mayor's office, however, which regularly takes complaints through emails. Citizen Assistance Officer often takes complaints and forwards them to the right places, a representative from the mayor's office told Patch.

Although the annual announcement is just once a year, anyone has the right to file a complaint - or a compliment - at any time during the year.

The official instructions:

To Make an Inquiry, Complaint or Commendation:

Write to:

Office of the Chief of Police
Attn: Internal Affairs Bureau
Newton Police Department
1321 Washington Street
West Newton, MA 02465
Or Call: 1-617-796-2100
**Request to speak with the Officer-in-Charge**

We encourage inquiries and complaints about questionable performance, actions or policies. We also encourage commendations for those who perform their duties exceptionally well.

Commendation: All inquiries or commendation should be forwarded to the Office of the Chief of Police. We encourage positive feedback when one of our employees does an exceptional job.

Making a Complaint
A formal complaint may be made to any member of the Police Department who will then
immediately refer the matter to a supervisor. All complaints will be kept confidential. Formal complaints will be classified as either of a serious or of a less serious nature. The employee’s immediate supervisor may handle less serious complaints.

Serious complaints such as criminal misconduct or violations of civil rights will be referred to the Office of the Chief of Police and coordinated by the Internal Affairs Bureau. All
complainants are notified in writing of the disposition of their complaint.

Useful Contacts:
Contact info (including emails) for the Mayor's office.
Need something fixed or addressed in the Garden City? Try this website.
Newton Police on Twitter.
Newton Police on Facebook.
Newton Police website.
Newton Police Headquarters at 617 796-2100

Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).