San Diego County Grand Jury
• 2002-2003
Handling of Citizen Complaints by the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, Vista Patrol Station
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings and Recommendations 4 findings
F1
When a citizen makes a complaint, it must be specific as to the crime that s/he is reporting. If it is a narcotics complaint or a complaint of officer misconduct, a specific form must be completed.
No recommendations for this finding
F2
Often complainants have no method of tracking the acknowledgement or progress of the investigation related to a complaint.
No recommendations for this finding
F3
Citizen complaints are handled by the VPS Captain-in-Charge according to his/her own style of community relations and the particular situation; for example, if the complaint relates to traffic s/he refers it to a traffic officer. A VPS spokesman stated that they will “address the problem and try to resolve it . . . it depends on the situation and depends on the type of complaint.” The VPS Captain-in-Charge stated that he has confidence in his officers; he maintains a log to ensure that nothing falls through the cracks. Other options cited by the VPS’s Captain-in-Charge as to how citizens might handle problems and complaints were the following: • Ask to speak to the Commanding Officer of the Station. • Go to the Code Compliance Officer of the City of Vista and request an inspection of the area. • Assist the officers by writing down license plate numbers, makes of cars around the neighborhood, and descriptions of people entering and leaving the area.
Related Recommendations (8)
03-52
Page 1
Study and improve the liaison between the VPS and the City of Vista
03-53
Page 1
Contact other San Diego County local law enforcement agencies and study
03-54
Page 1
Post bilingual instructions describing procedures for filing a citizen
03-55
Page 1
Amend its system(s) for processing citizen complaints to provide a
03-56
Page 1
Coordinate more effectively with Vista C.O.P.P.S. personnel in cases
03-57
Page 1
Increase the role of the Vista C.O.P.P.S. officers to include greater face-toface communications with complainants. Officers should be responsible
03-58
Page 1
Increase public awareness of, and expand citizen involvement in,
03-59
Page 1
Provide a bilingual information pamphlet informing complainants of what
F4
A significant number of the VPS service calls involve the use of controlled substances. The VPS Captain-in-Charge of the VPS does not receive briefings for every on-going investigation in his station. He claims that the number of investigations is too overwhelming for that. D. The Grand Jury was able to establish that the first recorded complaint the VPS received, for the neighborhood in question, was dated December 2001. In 3 According to testimony before the Grand Jury. 3 addition, a specific complaint about narcotics was received in March 2002 and was referred to a detective with the Street Narcotics Unit. E. Since the VPS records are not retained permanently, records of citizen complaints may no longer exist to assist the tracking of complaints. Specific record retention schedules specify:
No recommendations for this finding