Citizen Complaints Toward Police

Police-Citizen Complaint mediation may be more accurately called "Facilitated Conversations."  Since 2005 we have mediated over 200 cases in Denver, Westminster and Aurora (Colorado).  Our numbers continue to increase and our success rate remains high.  In a survey of both officers and citizens conducted before mediation was a part of the Denver program, satisfaction with the "old" process was incredibly low - somewhere in the teens.  Now that mediation has been incorporated into the complaint resolution process we are in the high 80%'s when it comes to both officer and citizen satisfaction with the resolution process.

 Why Should an Officer or Citizen Mediate?

For officers, mediation is an:

• Opportunity to explain policies and procedures that will help the citizen understand why certain things happened as they did.  In some ways a very effective community policing tool.

• Opportunity to hear the citizen's perspective, to understand the impact of their actions on them as a person; a mom, a dad, or kid.  This process puts a real face on the enforcement the officers routinely do.  Facilitated conversations personalize their interaction with people, something they may forget.

• Opportunity to resolve ongoing issues with people they have frequent interactions with.

For citizens, mediation is an:

• Opportunity to be heard, to be understood and to explain their perspective on a difficult and unusual experience.

• Opportunity to "resolve the situation" if the citizen and officer live or work in the same neighborhood, or their kids play on the same sports league.

• The chance to resolve their fears and gain closure.

For the community, mediation:

• Rebuilds trust in the police department and in an officers' commitment to making their community better and safer for everyone.

• Provides an awareness and education of the realities that both citizens and officers deal with each day.

• Builds an ongoing commitment for the larger community to benefit from - a positive approach to community policing and enhanced partnerships.

We're convinced of the tremendous benefits of Citizen - Police Mediations.   Take a minute to look at our dedicated web site.  CommunityMediationConcepts.org  Or check out our email/flat brochure.