Complaints & Use of Force Incidents

Formal Complaints

Officers must behave as their training, policies, and procedures require of them. Formal complaints include excessive use of force, criminal behavior, and failure to perform police responsibilities.

The Internal Affairs unit investigates complaints. They forward their findings to the Complaint and Administrative Review Board (CARB). The CARB reviews cases and makes a disciplinary recommendation to the Chief of Police.

Data from January 1 –  December 30

Line Complaints

Complaints made against an officer for minor incidents are called line complaints. The officer's immediate supervisor investigates these complaints. If warranted, they then make a disciplinary recommendation to the Chief of Police. Examples of line complaints include discourtesy, rudeness, or poor quality of service.

Data from January 1 –  December 30

Use of Force Incidents

The San Antonio Police Department requires that officers use skills and knowledge obtained from training when applying any level of force. Officers are trained and required to use only the level of force necessary to complete a lawful police objective. Every officer that uses force is required to report the use of force in writing.

Supervisors are required to respond to the scene of use of force incidents. They also review all Use of Force reports to ensure that the application of force conforms to guidelines, policies and procedures.

In 2020, policy changes required officers to report any instance in which they pointed their firearm at an individual. Therefore, the number of Use of Force incidents increased dramatically for this time period. 43.9% of Use of Force incidents in 2020 were due to this policy change.

Data from January 1 –  December 30

NOTE: The number of Use of Force reports does not necessarily equate to use of force complaints. The number indicates the frequency that officers reported and documented using force during a police incident.