- November 6, 2018
- Legislation
- Natalia Kalinichenko
Quite often, information appears in the media about the relationship between ordinary citizens and representatives of law enforcement agencies, in particular, with local police officers. The essence of all articles and news reports boils down to only one thing: the population does not have much trust in the police. After all, when turning to the same district police officer, citizens hope that this official will be the referee in the dispute and will do everything to ensure that justice prevails. But this doesn't always happen. Therefore, for many citizens of our country, the answer to the question of how to file a complaint against a local police officer for inaction, where to go and what the procedure itself is important.
Legislative framework
All representatives of law enforcement agencies must be guided not only by the Constitution of the country, but also by Law 3-FZ, which quite clearly states their duties and rights. Police officers, including local police officers, are required to:
- comply with all requirements of current legislation;
- follow your job description;
- respect the rights and interests of all citizens and legal entities;
- provide first aid if necessary;
- take all possible measures to prevent an offense or crime;
- not to disclose confidential information that was obtained in the course of official duties, and so on.
In addition to this law, the activities of district police officers are regulated by Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation No. 1166. This regulatory act spells out the duties of a district police officer. So, he must:
- ensure the safety of citizens in the serviced territory;
- receive information from citizens regarding offenses and planned crimes, take measures to prevent them;
- know where the so-called hot spots are;
- carry out court decisions (within their competence);
- check reports of planned and committed offenses, and so on.
Each district police officer is assigned a specific microdistrict, where he is obliged to carry out his main function - to protect the rights and interests of the residents of this locality.
Sample
Filing a complaint to the prosecutor's office
Appealing to higher authorities does not always give the desired result. Sometimes inaction can be found not only on the part of the district police officer, but also on his immediate superior. In this case, you need to contact other bodies whose responsibilities include monitoring the performance of official duties by employees of certain departments. Such a body is the prosecutor's office, which carries out the necessary checks upon citizens' appeals. You need to contact the prosecutor's office of the same district where the police station is located.
Now let's talk about the timing of consideration of applications. If the application was filed on the basis of dishonest performance of duties during the investigation of a criminal case, then a response to the application must be given no later than 3 days after its filing. It is allowed to increase the time frame for considering a complaint to the prosecutor's office. This is possible if there is a need to request certain documents. In this case, the period for consideration and sending the response to the applicant should be no more than 10 days.
All other complaints are considered according to a certain algorithm, which is prescribed in Federal Law No. 59 of 2013. The fundamental factor that contributes to resolving the issue in favor of the applicant is the preparation and submission of an application.
There are certain requirements for applying for a district police officer, but there is no universal form to fill out. In order for an application to be verified, it is enough to provide all the necessary information, maintain a business style of writing and not use phrases that insult the persons referred to in the application.
The statement itself can be divided into three parts:
The header indicates the full name of the prosecutor's office, personal and contact information, as well as the full name of the prosecutor's office employee to whom you entrust the inspection. The main part should contain a full description of the reasons for contacting the police, what was done by the local police officer upon the complaint, and why you do not agree with what measures were taken by the police officers. The final part contains the date of the complaint and the signature of the applicant. Also, do not forget that the application must contain a list of attached documents. As documents, an official response from the district police officer or other police officers, certificates and evidence confirming the commission of a crime are attached to the main application.
The complaint to the prosecutor's office is considered within a 30-day period. This period is correct in cases where the prosecutor needs to involve third-party organizations and request additional documents. In all other cases, the applicant must be informed of the results of the inspection no later than 15 days from the date of application.
The response received from the prosecutor's office must be justified from the point of view of legislation and have links to official documents. If the requirements set forth by the applicant were not satisfied, then there must also be a legal justification for this, and the response must contain a procedure for appealing the decision received.
Appeal to judicial authorities
If appeals to the boss and the prosecutor's office did not give the desired result, then you can try to restore justice in court. This possibility is enshrined at the legislative level. According to Article No. 22 of the Code of Administrative Proceedings, it is possible to attract police officers who perform their duties in bad faith.
Also, do not forget that, according to Articles 52 and 53 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, citizens have the right to receive compensation if a person is faced with arbitrariness of power and has suffered certain losses or suffered harm to his health. This possibility is also confirmed by the civil code, according to Article 1069 of which, when damage is caused to a citizen of the Russian Federation by an official, the injured party must be paid compensation from budget funds, and the culprit is obliged to compensate for all damage and return the funds paid to the victim from the state treasury.
Separately, it is worth mentioning the issue regarding the procedure for considering the case. It is carried out in civil proceedings. You must contact the court located on the territory of the police station to which the local police officer is assigned. If the decision is made in favor of the applicant, then he will be entitled to a payment, which is made in accordance with the procedure approved in Part 1 of Article No. 24 of the Budget Code of the Russian Federation.
The procedure for conducting the trial is quite simple. Within 5 days from the date of application, the judge is obliged to consider the application, prepare all the necessary documents and hold a court hearing at which the complaint is considered. After reviewing all attached documents, an appropriate decision is made. If it does not satisfy the plaintiff and violates his rights, then a complaint can be filed against the judge.
Appeal to the Commissioner for Human Rights
You should contact the Ombudsman if none of the methods described above gave the desired result. The responsibilities of the Human Rights Ombudsman include re-examining the complaint, which is carried out in the presence of the relevant structures. You can contact the Commissioner within a year from the moment the applicant’s rights were violated.
Grounds for filing a complaint
A complaint to the prosecutor's office about the inaction of the district police officer can be filed even if there is no response to the request for help. Such behavior of an official is regarded as a violation of the rights of a citizen and is an improper performance of official duties by a district police officer.
Inaction can also include a response that contains formal information and is essentially an unsubscribe. If repeated appeals to the local police officer do not produce any results, for example, a neighbor still plays loud music late at night, this is also a reason to file a complaint. This could be extortion of money, beatings, or simply ignoring complaints. The list can be continued almost endlessly.
Direct responsibilities of the local police officer
The district inspector is a key figure in establishing order in the territory to which he is assigned. His responsibilities include ensuring the safety of the citizens of the site. He must proactively identify and suppress criminal acts that could cause them material or physical damage.
If a citizen turns to him for help, the district police officer is obliged to accept and consider the complaint or application. The responsibilities of the district police officer include conducting preventive work with minor teenagers who have mental disorders or are prone to alcohol addiction.
If an offense has occurred, the district police officer must immediately take measures to eliminate it:
- establish the identity of the offender and the damage he caused to the victim;
- draw up a protocol of the offense and detain the offender;
- punish him in the form of a fine, warning or initiation of an administrative case.
It often happens that after filing a complaint against a troublemaker, the local police officer does not respond properly. This is a violation of the rights of citizens, so they have a question of what to do if the local police officer is inactive.
Powers and responsibilities of the district police officer.
Complaint structure
The regulations do not provide for a unified sample of complaints about the inaction of the local police commissioner. Therefore, such papers are drawn up according to the general rules adopted for official documents. An approximate complaint form can be seen in the photos below.
The document must necessarily contain the following information:
- address and name of the authority to which the application is submitted;
- information about the complainant, personal and contact details;
- complete information about the official who is inactive;
- the essence of the complaint;
- request, that is, information about what the applicant wants to receive in the end;
- applications, that is, documents that confirm the inaction of the district police officer.
If the office or duty station refuses to accept the application, then it can be sent through the postal operator.
You can file a complaint against a local police officer either by hand or using a computer; there are no restrictions regarding this. A complaint can even be filed by a lawyer or other authorized person, but only if there is a power of attorney with clearly defined powers.
There should be no corrections or strikethroughs in the text of the complaint. The writing style is businesslike, there should be no swear words, insults or unnecessary reasoning. Just the facts.
As for the sample complaint about the inaction of a local police officer, it may look like the photo below.
Distinctive features of a complaint against police officers
A complaint against police officers has the following characteristic features:
- It can be written by any person who believes that police officers have violated his rights and legitimate interests.
- An application or appeal to the court can be written handwritten or typewritten. To go to court, you must comply with the procedural order. You can't do without lawyers and attorneys.
- The application must necessarily indicate the passport details of the applicant, as well as the details of the authority where it is being submitted.
- The appeal shall indicate all relevant facts. They must be stated clearly and concisely.
In general, the law does not define a clear form for writing a complaint against police officers, so it is drawn up in free form, but with mandatory compliance with the above rules. Let me remind you that when going to court, you must follow the procedural order.
Descriptive part
The complaint can begin with a request to conduct an inspection regarding a specific district police officer. Next, it is necessary to explain the essence of the events that give the right to believe that the official violated the applicant’s rights. Then it is necessary to describe why, in the applicant’s opinion, the district police officer was inactive. For example, he did not interview the seller or pawnshop employee, or examine the documents provided by the applicant. Perhaps the district police officer gave an incorrect assessment of the offender’s actions or made the wrong conclusion about the absence of corpus delicti.
Final part
In this part of the complaint against the district police officer for inaction, clear requirements should be written down, for example:
"…1. I ask that the decision dated... date... to refuse to initiate a criminal case be declared illegal.
- Conduct a comprehensive audit of the activities of the district police officer (full name), department of internal affairs and district.
- Bring the district police officer (full name) to disciplinary liability and issue him with a request to eliminate the identified violations of the current legislation.”
After this, all attachments should be written down, that is, documents that confirm the actions or inactions of the official that led to the violation of the applicant’s rights.
What are these materials?
We told you where to complain about a local police officer if he is inactive. And then it turned out that some materials were needed. What it is?
- First of all, the statement you submitted to the district police officer.
- An audio or video recording of a conversation confirming the police officer’s refusal to listen to your problem.
It’s more difficult with the latest materials, that’s understandable. And you may not have a copy of the application on hand. What to do in this case? Demand to request the case materials, that is, a statement confirming the appeal to the local commissioner.
Where to complain?
First of all, a complaint against a district police officer for inaction should be sent to higher management in the same department to which this person belongs. This may be the deputy head of the internal affairs department or the head of the city department of internal affairs. Practicing lawyers even recommend telling the local police officer about this; as a rule, the police officer’s line of behavior immediately changes. If there are no positive changes, then you should immediately write and send or take the complaint to senior management.
Although, to be honest, it is very rarely possible to solve the problem at the local level. The next step in this case is to file a complaint about the inaction of the local police commissioner to the security department of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate. It is this case that is really interested in facts of violation of official duties, and cases of corruption are considered. The Federal Security Service and the Prosecutor's Office may be interested in the fact of inaction.
Is it possible to reach an agreement with the local police officer?
We are discussing where to complain about a local police officer if he absolutely does not want to do his job. And the authorities that are capable of punishing a negligent employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs have been dealt with.
Is it possible to do without a complaint? What if you manage to come to an agreement with the local police commissioner?
Let's reveal a secret: you can always reach an agreement. Only this path is not entirely honest. Are you ready to pay a certain amount to solve the problem? Then take action. But we do not recommend doing this.
You can also try to get the police officer to pity you. Sometimes it works on them. But not as often as material reinforcement.
Just think: in order for the district police officer to fulfill his duties, it is necessary to look for some “buttons” and resort to tricks.
If conscience does not allow you to do all this, and a representative of the authorities is inactive, then you cannot do without a complaint. Alas, the majority of police officers are like this these days.
Other ways to file a complaint
Today, almost all police departments have a helpline. Don’t worry that your complaint against the local police officer will not be heard. All telephone conversations are recorded, therefore, the call will definitely become known. Helplines can be found on the websites of the Internal Affairs Directorate of all regions of Russia.
There is also the option of personal contact. You can make an appointment for a personal appointment with the head of the Internal Affairs Directorate. You can bring a written version of the complaint to the meeting and hand it over when you meet at the reception.
Going to court
If a complaint to the prosecutor's office about the inaction of the local police officer does not give the desired results, then only the court can act as the final authority. To apply, it is necessary to prepare an administrative claim, which any individual whose rights and interests have been violated has the right to draw up. You can also contact the Commissioner for Human Rights or a public association, where they will help you file a claim.
Regulatory acts for filing an administrative claim establish a short limitation period of 3 months. This period is calculated from the moment the person learns that his rights have been violated. Even if the deadline is missed, it is recommended to apply anyway, but first ask the court to reinstate the missed deadline. The court can either fully satisfy the claim or partially, but it can also refuse if the plaintiff fails to prove his case.
Constitutional guarantees
The Constitution of the Russian Federation guarantees every citizen of the country the right to protection and protection of his interests. And if you are faced with the fact that a local police officer or any other person in uniform is ignoring their duties, you can contact a higher authority.
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Inaction or illegality of actions can be appealed in court. Also, a claim can be filed in court either individually or as a group. The main thing is that it be drawn up according to a standard template and in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.
So, where should you go to defend your interests?
How to submit an application?
A complaint against a district police officer for inaction must be drawn up in two copies, regardless of the authority to which the application is submitted. On the second copy, the recipient (the employee responsible for sending mail) must mark receipt.
If it is not possible to personally submit a complaint, an authorized person can do this, but he must have a power of attorney with him.
In cases where law enforcement agencies refuse to accept a complaint, you will have to use postal services. It is recommended that the letter be filled out with a list of attachments and issued with notification of receipt.
What to do if he visits your home
Whether you open the door to the police officer or not depends only on you. You can let him outside the threshold or leave him outside and have a conversation there (Article 25 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation).
However, the district police officer may enter the house without the consent of the owner of the home or during his absence when:
- An inspection is required by court order.
- It is necessary to save the life of a citizen or his property.
- The apartment is being used by terrorists.
- It is necessary to arrest the criminal.
- We need to stop the crime.
- It is necessary to find out the circumstances of the accident.
If such a situation happened (a policeman ended up in your home without your knowledge), then within twenty-four hours the prosecutor must have written notification of his visit. Also, in this case, the police officer must notify the residents of such premises about this situation within twenty-four hours.
How long will it take to consider the application?
A complaint about the inaction of a district police officer cannot be considered for more than 30 days. If this deadline is violated, you will have to write a complaint again and indicate that it is being submitted again.
The period for consideration of a complaint may be extended for objective reasons, for example, some information requires additional verification, or it is necessary to request any materials. However, the applicant must be notified in writing of the extension of the consideration period.
If a complaint is simultaneously submitted to several authorities, then if a positive response is received from one of them, the remaining complaints can be withdrawn.
Solution
If the local police officer is inactive, where should I go? You can file a complaint about the work of a local inspector in several instances:
- To higher-ups in the police department (the immediate boss of the district police officer)
- To the prosecutor's office
- To court
But pay attention to the nature of your problem. If the local police officer is inactive, it will be enough to contact the head of the local police department. Of course, if your application was accepted, time passes, but no measures were taken, then the next application must be submitted to a higher authority for consideration.
In another case, if you have witnessed obvious violations by law enforcement agencies, or, even worse, these actions were directed against you or your family, then you should immediately file a claim with the prosecutor’s office.
There are several completely legal tricks: when sending an application to the head of the local office, indicate on the form “the second copy has been sent to the prosecutor’s office” - this will guarantee that the application will not be lost, will not gather dust in the desk, and will not go straight to the trash bin.
Or you can actually send a second copy to the prosecutor’s office: the more people know about your situation, the faster the process of solving it will go.
Will anonymous requests be considered?
It is quite difficult to count on help and remain an anonymous applicant. Therefore, it is possible that such a complaint will be considered, but the applicant will definitely not know about the decision made. Senior management will definitely react, especially if it is a matter of corruption or a clear violation of official duties, but no one will be able to influence a specific situation.
Can they not consider the application?
A complaint against a district police officer for inaction may be returned to the applicant if the essence of the requirement is not clear from its text. They will not consider an application that contains obscene language or is written in illegible handwriting. They will also return the application if the issue has already been resolved, that is, the answer has been given and this “topic” is closed.
In cases of a return due to illegible handwriting or because the essence of the request is unclear, this can be quite easily corrected and you can resend the complaint.
