Police Conduct Complaints
In Olympia , any citizen may register a complaint, comment, or compliment about any City department or employee, including the Police Department and Police personnel, either in writing or orally, and all complaints and service concerns are investigated.
You do not need to use City-developed forms to initiate a complaint, although the City has available a general Comment/Complaint form (pdf file) and another form specific to Allegations of Serious Employee Misconduct (pdf file).
Complaints and comments may be filed with Police Chief Gary Michel, City Manager Steve Hall, or Olympia's Human Resources Director Cathy Raymond; or dropped off at the Police Department service counter or the City Hall Executive Office reception counter.
The City of Olympia postal address is: PO Box 1967, Olympia, WA 98507-1967. The police headquarters and City Hall executive office are located at 900 Plum Street SE, Olympia, WA.
Complaint Investigations
The Olympia Police Department's accountability philosophy and standards are articulated in OPD General Order 52.1, Professional Conduct Review System.
The Chief of Police is responsible for the Police Department's professional conduct review system and delegates the responsibility for administration of that system to the Professional Standards Lieutenant, who is appointed to that position by the Chief of Police and reports directly to the Chief. The Chief of Police, who determines whether or not an investigation report is accepted.
In addition, the City Manager, through the City Attorney, hires an outside attorney (not on City staff) to provide independent review of certain investigations and the investigatory process, and advise the City Manager on such.
The Police Auditor is appointed by and reports directly to the Olympia City Council. The role of Olympia's Police Auditor is to review investigations of complaints about Police personnel after completion to determine if they were conducted in a thorough, fair and impartial manner, and in keeping with accepted investigatory standards.
View a
diagram (pdf file) of Olympia's Police Accountability System.
View the Police Auditor reports.