Citizen Complaint Procedures

The East Carolina University Police Department is committed to providing the highest quality law enforcement services to the university community and its visitors. We take pride in tailoring our services to the needs of our community and we welcome your constructive comments, feedback, and input to ensure we are doing the best job possible. Provided is a downloadable Citizen Complaint Form.

Complaint Processing Procedures received by the ECU Police Department are as follows:

  • Complaints may be made in person, over the telephone, or in writing.
  • Citizen complaints which may involve less serious matters are forwarded to the Professional Standards Lieutenant who will normally assign the complaint to the accused employee’s supervisor for investigation. The Chief of Police is notified of all complaints received by the department.
  • Citizen complaints which allege criminal violations or other substantial violations shall be forwarded to the Professional Standards Lieutenant who will contact an investigation.
  • Supervisors receiving a complaint in person will request for citizens to document the complaint on the Citizen Complaint Form, have them sign the completed form, and provide them with a copy of the completed form.
  • The completed form serves as acknowledgement of the complaint and includes a description of the Departmental Complaint Investigation Process.
  • Complainants who do not wish to write out their complaints on the Citizen Complaint Form will be asked by supervisors to verbally state their complaints while the supervisor records them on the form.
  • When applicable, the supervisor receiving the complaint may attempt to resolve citizens’ concerns by informing them of departmental policies or other applicable justifications of the employee’s actions during the initial contact with the complainant; however, a complaint will still be filed pursuant to departmental policy.
  • The Professional Standards Lieutenant will provide the complainant written notification of receiving the complaint and a description of the departmental complaint process.
  • Upon completion of the investigation of a citizen complaint, the Chief of Police will review the findings and make final determination as to the validity of the complaint. Any disciplinary action taken against a member of the department will be kept confidential as required by state personnel law.
  • The Chief of Police, or his/her designee, will notify the complainant regarding the conclusion of the investigation. The specifics of such notification will be left to the discretion of the Chief of Police and are subject to the provisions of NCGS 126-22, confidentiality of personnel files.

Written complaints may be mailed or hand-delivered to:

Professional Standards Lieutenant
ECU Police Department
609 E. Tenth Street
Greenville, NC 27858-4353

If you have additional questions, please contact the Professional Standards Lieutenant at (252) 328-4390 Monday through Friday 8:00 am – 5:00 pm.