Got Complaints, Kudos For Newton Police? Here's How

NEWTON, MA — If you've had a bad experience with a Newton police officer recently, now is the time to file a complaint, the Newton Police Department announced Thursday. But not over email or online.

In compliance with national accreditation standards, Newton Police have to remind citizens once a year of their right to file complaints — or compliments. So they've announced just how you can submit a complaint verbally or by taking pen to paper and sending it into the station.

The old-school approach hasn't prevented some people from complaining.

In 2016 the Newton Police Department received 21 complaints about officers, of which 10 were ruled exonerated, six as unfounded, four as sustained, according to police data. One complaint was withdrawn.

In 2017 the department received 11 complaints. Of these, four were closed as exonerated, three as unfounded and four as sustained, according to police data. (By way of comparison, there were two complaints sent to the Brookline Police Department, which has a more complicated process).

In 2018 police received 13 complaints, six for rudeness, two for racial profiling, and others included inappropriate behavior, inaccurate reports, and one about an officer sleeping in a parking lot. Seven were exonerated, in two of the complaints of racial profiling the complainant changed their minds and withdrew the complaint. Two complaints were ruled "not sustained" and one - an instance where someone reported a detail officer sitting in a car on the phone was ruled "sustained." A complaint issued in December for rudeness is ongoing.

No way to complain online?

There's no official email to send a complaint to, Newton Police told Patch in 2018, although they did not rule that out in the future. This year there is a spot on the police website where residents can give "Citizen Feedback." It offers a drop down menu for subjects such as "Thank you" or "personal" or "neighborhood" or "other."

It's not clear if those count toward the official complaints or compliments.

If you're more of an email or online form type of person, there is still the mayor's office, however, which regularly takes complaints through emails. Citizen Assistance Officer Terry Crowley (available at tcrowley@newtonma.gov) often takes complaints and forwards them to the right places, a representative from the mayor's office told Patch.

Although the annual announcement is just once a year, anyone has the right to file a complaint - or a compliment - at any time during the year.

The official instructions:

Complaints against police officers can be made in writing and hand delivered to a superior officer at the Newton Police Department, or mailed to Chief MacDonald at 1321 Washington Street Newton, Ma. 02465.

Citizens are also encouraged to commend police personnel verbally, in writing or in person. Compliments and commendations are copied to the personnel files of individual officers.

All members of the Newton community are encouraged to call Newton Police Headquarters at 617 796- 2100 at any time to ask for further information regarding this or any other police-related matter.

Useful Contacts:
Contact info (including emails) for the Mayor's office.
Need something fixed or addressed in the Garden City? Try this website.
Newton Police on Twitter:
Newton Police on Facebook:
Newton Police website.
Newton Police Headquarters at 617 796-2100

((Have you signed up for the daily free Newton Patch newsletter yet? You should probably get on that. ))

Photo by Jenna Fisher/Patch Staff