City of Pittsburgh • About the Citizen Police Review Board
City of Pittsburgh • About the Citizen Police Review Board
Home 9 About the CPRB 9 Filing a Complaint ( Page )

Filing a Complaint

Filing a Complaint

Know Your Rights

Know Your Rights

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?

Frequently-Asked Questions

Frequently-Asked Questions

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?

The Complaint Process

The Complaint Process

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.

File a Complaint Now

File a Complaint Now

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.

Additional Resources

Additional Resources

Additional resources in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, and nationally.

City of Pittsburgh • Citizen Police Review Board

About the CPRB

The Citizen Police Review Board (CPRB) is an independent agency within the City of Pittsburgh set up to investigate citizen complaints about improper conduct by the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police. MORE

CPRB 2024 Meeting Dates

January 23, 2024
February 27, 2024
March 26, 2024
April 23, 2024
May 28, 2024
June 25, 2024
July 23, 2024
Sept. 24, 2024
October 22, 2024
December 3, 2024

More meeting details & documents