ALLEGATIONS OF MISCONDUCT POLICY

I.       POLICY

It is the policy of the Lexington Police Department (“agency” or“LPD”) that any person who believes that an employee of this agency has actedimproperly may bring a complaint pursuant to the following procedure.

II.      DEFINITIONS

For the purpose of this policythe terms set forth below are definedas follows:

A.      ChiefLaw Enforcement Officer means thechief of police or a designee. Withinthis model policy, the chief law enforcement officer will be referred to asCLEO.

B.      Complainantmeans a person who submits acomplaint to the CLEO alleging misconduct by an agency member.

C.       Complaint means a writtenstatement made to or by a CLEO alleging misconduct.

D.       Member means all voluntaryand compensated personnel of the agency.

E.       Discipline means:

1.    oral reprimand,

2.    written reprimand,

3.    suspension,

4.    demotion, or

5.    discharge.

F.       Exonerated means a preponderance of the evidenceestablished either that:

1.    the act or acts complained of did not occur;

2.    the agencymember named in the complaintwas not involvedin the alleged misconduct; or

3.    the act(s) that providedthe basis for the complaintoccurred; however, the investigation reveals that such act(s)were justified, lawful or proper.

G.     NotSustained means the investigationfailed to disclose sufficient evidence to prove or disprove the allegationsmade in the complaint.

H.      Sustainedmeans a fair preponderance of theevidence obtained in the investigation established that the accused person’sactions constituted misconduct.

I.          FormalStatement means the questioningof an agency member in the course of obtaining a recorded, stenographic orsigned statement to be used as evidence in a disciplinary proceeding againstthe agency member.

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J.       Respondent means any agency member, whetherfull-time, part-time, temporaryor voluntary, against whom a complaint has been filed.

K.       Misconduct means:

1.    a violationof any agency policy and procedure governingconduct of agency members;

2.     the use of unnecessary or excessive force;

3.    the conviction of any criminaloffense;

4.    abuse of authority;

5.    conduct which violates a person’s civil rights;

6.    abusive or insulting languageor conduct which is derogatory of a person’srace, religion, sex, national origin, nationality, sexual orientation orpreference, or gender identity;

7.    sexual harassment as that term is definedunder Title VII of the CivilRights Act of 1964;

8.    intimidationor retribution toward a complainant or witness involved in any complaint proceeding.

L.       Policies and Procedures mean the administrative rules adopted by the agency regulating the conduct of agencymembers.

M.      Shall / Will means, as used herein, that the actionis mandatory.

N.      May means that the action ispermissible.

O.     Receivingauthority means the person whoreceives the complaint when the subject of the complaint is a CLEO.

III.    PROCEDURE

A.       INITIATING COMPLAINT

1.    Anyone who has personal knowledge of facts or reliablehearsay information may filea complaint. Any agency member whohas personal knowledge of misconduct shall file a complaint according to theprocedures stated herein.

2.    Any agencymember shall self-report to the CLEO any action, inaction, or condition of thatagency member which the agency memberreasonably believes would constitute grounds fordisciplinary action under any of the agency’s policies and procedures or local,state or federal law.

3.    Upon receiving a complaint againsta member withinthe agency, the CLEO receiving the complaint shall immediately have thecomplainant complete a Citizens Complaint Form (CCF) and assign anadministrative case number. Thecomplaint will not be considered filed until the complainant signs the CCF.(CCF Receipt and CCF Form are attached to this Policy).

4.    If the personmaking a complaint sets forth specific believable facts supporting anallegation of misconduct but wishes to remain anonymous,the CLEO receiving the

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complaint may, with sole discretion, permitthe complainant to remain anonymous. In this instance the CLEO shallsign the complaint as the complainant. Ifthe CLEO has reason to believe the complaint is unfounded, the CLEO shall havethe authority to require an anonymous complainant to identify himself/herself. If that complainant refuses to do so, theCLEO may refuse to accept the complaint and shall advise the anonymous personof that fact.

5.    After a CCFis filed, the CLEO shall sign the document, keeping a copy for the agency and providing a copy to thecomplainant, for the complainant’s own records. The CLEO will forward a copy of the document to the respondentonly after it is determined that the complaint does not allege a criminalviolation and the notification will not impede a criminal investigation.

6.    A complainantmay be accompanied by an attorney or other representative at the time acomplaint is filed or at any other stage of the process.

7.    Any complaintmade against a CLEO shall initially be made to the mayor and Board of Aldermen. Upon receiving a complaint the receivingauthority shall immediately have the complainant complete a Citizens ComplaintForm (CCF) and assign an administrative case number. The complaint will not be considered until the complainant signsthe CCF. The receiving authority shall follow this Allegations of MisconductPolicy for any complaints against the CLEO, i.e., the receiving authority wouldstep into the shoes of the CLEO, and the CLEO would be the respondent.

8.    The mayor andBoard of Aldermen shall refer investigations of alleged misconduct against aCLEO to an outside law enforcement agency or criminal justice agency.

B.      THE INVESTIGATION OF A COMPLAINT

1.    Upon receiptof the Citizen Complaint Form (CCF), the CLEO shall make an initialdetermination as to whether the facts alleged require a formal investigation. If the CLEO decides that an investigationis not required, the disposition of the investigationis not required. The disposition ofthe complaint shall be either “not sustained” or “exonerated.” The complainant and the respondent will benotified of this decision and the basis for determination. If the complainantsupplies additional information within thirty (30) days of that initialdetermination, the CLEO may reverse this decision and order a formalinvestigation.

2.    If the CLEOdetermines a formal investigation is required an appropriate person will beassigned to investigate the complaint. Whenthe CLEO believes an external investigation is appropriate and when the CLEO isthe subject of the complaint, the investigation will be assigned to an externalagency.

3.    The CLEO maysuspend a respondent with pay at any time during the investigation of acomplaint.

4.    As soon aspossible after being assigned the investigation the investigator shall inform the complainant of his or her name,business phone number and the status of the complaint.

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5.    Theinvestigator shall thoroughly investigate all allegations contained in the complaint and any other potentialmisconduct discovered in the course of the investigation. If the investigation reveals potentialmisconduct by another agency member the investigator shall report that fact tothe CLEO or, in the case of a complaint against a CLEO, the mayor and Board of Aldermen.

6.    All agencymembers shall cooperate with the investigation.

7.    The investigator shall prepare a report which will contain all relevantinformation organized into the following three (3) sections.

a)    Allegations:an itemized summary of the acts ofmisconduct alleged in the complaint. Referenceshall be made to those rules, procedures, orders, statutes, orconstitutional provisions that would be violated if the allegations are takenas true.

b)    Investigation:a chronological summary of theinvestigation including all pertinent facts obtained through interviews withthe complainant, accused agency member and all available witnesses. Writtenstatements, descriptions and analysisof any physical evidence, and all other relevant information shall be included.

c)    Conclusions:the investigator’s findings,conclusions as to whether any misconduct occurred and the underlying reasonsfor the findings and conclusions.

8.    Theinvestigation shall be completed within thirty (30) days of the filing of thecomplaint unless the CLEO determines there is good cause to grant an extensionto the investigation time. Thecomplainant and respondent shall be informed of any extension.

C.      ADDITIONAL INVESTIGATION, REVIEWAND DISPOSITION

1.    Upon completion of the investigation the investigatorshall submit the report, case file and all investigative notes to the CLEO. The CLEO may require additionalinvestigation or make one of the following decisions: “exonerated,” “not sustained,” or “sustained.”

2.    The CLEO maypostpone making a decision until any related criminal charges are resolved. The complainant and respondent shall beinformed of this decision.

3.    If thedecision is “exonerated” or “not sustained” the CLEO shall immediately notifythe complainant and the respondent of the decision.

4.    If the complaint is “sustained” the CLEO will:

a)    issue findingsof fact including a summaryof the acts constituting misconduct and the specific statutes,policies, regulations and procedures violated; and

b)    take appropriate remedial and/or disciplinary action.

5.    Prior to theimplementation of remedial and/or disciplinary action the respondent will be providedwith a copy of the findings of fact. The CLEO and/or appropriate person shallreview the findings of fact with the respondent and explain the reasons for theremedial and/or disciplinary action.

6.    Theinvestigation may be re-opened by the CLEO at any time if new evidence isdiscovered concerning the complaint.

7.    When a“sustained” disposition is final the respondent may appeal the dispositionpursuant to the rules and law governing the accused member's employment.

D.      MAINTENANCE AND DISCLOSURE OF DATA

1.    Disclosure tothe public, complainant and respondent of data collected, created or receivedby the agency in connection with this policy and procedure shall be governed bythe provisions of the Mississippi Public Records Act.

2.    All datacollected, created or received by the agency in connection with this policy andprocedure shall be maintained for no shorter than 10 years.

3.    The placementof the disposition report or other data in an employee’s personnel file shallbe governed by the agency’s personnel policy.

4.    Access todata collected, created, or received in connection with this policy andprocedure is governed by the Mississippi Public Records Act.

Citizens Complaint Form Receipt

On(date)_______________, (Complainant’s Name Printed)_____________________________ filed a complaint with the Lexington PoliceDepartment concerning the conduct of (person complained against)_________________________________________________.    This wasin reference to an incident which occurred on (date) _______________ and wasdocumented in report/citationnumber________________________.    This form acknowledgesreceipt of the complaint, which has Administrative Case Number____________________.

_________________________________________   _____________________ Signature of person filing complaint (iffeasible):          Date

Employeereceiving complaint:

Printedname:   ____________________________                _____________________

                                                                               Date

Signature:______________________________

Citizens Complaint Form

Name  of Complainant

DOB

Address

Phone  (H)

(C)

Email  Address

When  is the best time to contact you?

Who  is the complaint made against?

IF THE PERSON’S NAME IS UNKNOWN, DESCRIBE THAT PERSONBELOW

Date of Incident

Time of Occurrence

Report/Citation # (if known)

Location of Incident Occurrence

Office Use Only

Administrative Case Number

Employee Receiving Complaint

Describe indetail as to what occurred and be specific as to what was said. Include detailed information (name, address, phone) of witnesses to incident. It isuseful to include the following: who, what, when, where, how.

[insertdetail]

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[continue detail]

I declare this to be a true and accurate report and theinformation therein to be factual.

Name of Person Filing Complaint

Date

Signature of Person Filing Complaint

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