Do I have to answer questions asked by the police? Can police search my home or vehicle? What if police stop me on the street? What if I am treated badly by the police? What if police stop me in a vehicle?

How Do I Make A Complaint? What is a Citizen Complaint? How Do Escalate my Pending Complaint to a Citizen Complaint? What Happens after I file a Citizen Complaint? What Happens after a Preliminary Inquiry? What is a Public Hearing? Can the Board discipline or fire individual police officers? Do Police Officers participate? Can the Board require people to participate? What happens if a subject officer does not participate? Can the Board prosecute for perjury? If a police officer is charged with criminal activity related to a Citizen Complaint, what happens to the Citizen Complaint?

Complaints are received through the Intake Coordinator. A case file is opened, a summary is prepared, appropriate document requests distributed to sources, and the file moved to the Executive Director. The Executive Director reviews the file and forwards the case to the Investigators. The assigned Investigator prepares a summary reflecting the allegations, alleged facts asserted by the complainant, police reports and related documents. The summary is reviewed by the Executive Director and if the information appears to support the allegations or appears to be a matter of exceptional concern, the Executive Director authorizes a Preliminary Inquiry. In effect, this is comparable to the finding of probable cause to proceed.

If you know of a situation that hurts the relationship between the public and the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, please tell us about it. We will file and log your e-mail as an informal complaint. However, for the CPRB to investigate your complaint, you must also submit a sworn (notarized) written statement. As a convenience, notary services are available at the CPRB office.

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