New San Jose Police Auditor Website Allows Anonymous Complaints Online
SAN JOSE (KPIX 5) -- The San Jose Independent Police Auditor is providing a new online tool for the public to make complaints about SJPD officer misconduct.
For the first time, people can anonymously text in complaints or comments about their interactions with officers, or use their computer or smartphones to file official complaints.
"Having the complaint form online is reaching a lot more people who do things digitally," said Shivaun Nurre, San Jose's Independent Police Auditor.
Until now, complaints had to be submitted in person, through an email or via fax.
"Especially the younger audiences. They do things online and we want to reach them because they are the ones who tend to have the most interactions with police officers," Nurre said.
A new dashboard has been built into the auditor's website.
With one click, users can pull up a complaint form that has the ability to upload photos or videos of encounters with officers.
Additionally, people can also text "@IPA" to 39242 to send in complaints anonymously or provide feedback and see what other citizens around the city are saying about the police.
"This is an important step for us, because this is the first time we've been able to use technology to make complaints or gather community feedback about how police are doing," Nurre said.
We asked people to try out the new o on the streets of San Jose.
"By being able to text or go online it's going to allow them to have their voice be heard," said Nicholas Johnson of San Jose.
Johnson said people might feel safer making complaints on their devices instead of in person at the police department or auditor's office.
"If their experiences with the police have been like mine, confrontational, they might be reluctant to
go in and talk to the police."
San Jose police officers were not available for comment.
