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Newsletters
Unfounded and Exonerated Complaints no Longer Allowed In General Personnel File
Pursuant to Assembly Bill 1016, citizen complaints which are unfounded or in which the officer is exonerated can no longer be maintained in the officer's general personnel file. Prior to this amendment to Penal Code section 832.5, only complaints found to be "frivolous" were required to be kept out of officer's personnel files. Section 832.5 now defines "unfounded" as a complaint where "the investigation clearly established that the allegation is not true." "Exonerated" is defined as a complaint where "the investigation clearly established that the actions of the peace officer that formed the basis for the complaint are not violations of law or department policy."
While these complaints, as all citizen complaints, must be maintained by the agency for at least five years, they no longer may be part of an officer's general personnel file. The importance of this legislation is that the employing agency may no longer consider unfounded or exonerated complaints when deciding on promotions, transfers or disciplinary actions. Additionally, those types of complaints should not be mentioned in evaluations or any other documents which are part of a personnel file.
It should also be noted that there is no "grandfather" clause in this legislation. In order for agencies to avoid being in violation of Penal Code 832.5, they must go through all of their personnel files and relocate all of the unfounded and exonerated complaints. While these complaints are maintained in separate files and cannot be used for personnel purposes, they are still considered peace officer personnel records and are thus still protected, requiring a Pitches Motion for their release.
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