The Washington State Patrol is committed to providing the highest level of law enforcement services to our citizens and stakeholders. To that end, an obligation exists to our employees, the department, and the citizens of the state of Washington to investigate allegations of misconduct or substandard performance.

The Patrol accepts complaints against itself and any of its employees and will investigate all accepted complaints to the appropriate disposition. A complaint may be given to the agency by any means to include in person, by telephone, or by letter.

A complaint is defined as:

1. An allegation of circumstance(s) amounting to a specific act or omission which, if proven true, would amount to employee misconduct; or
   
   
2. An expression of dissatisfaction with a policy, procedure, practice, philosophy, service level, or legal standard of the agency.

   A disagreement over the validity of a traffic infraction or criminal citation is not a complaint. Such disagreements should be directed to the proper court having jurisdiction in the matter.

Complaints can come from either an external or internal source and may be accepted from:

• Individual aggrieved person
• Third party
• Governmental agency
• Employing agency
• Notice of civil claim
• Human rights complaints