How do I file a complaint against a police officer in North Carolina?

What should I do right after a bad police encounter?

The first hours matter most, because details fade and evidence gets lost.

• Write it all down now: the date, time and exact location, what was said, and the officers' names, badge numbers, patrol car numbers and agency.
• Save your video and photos: back them up somewhere other than your phone. North Carolina allows recording a conversation if at least one person in it consents (G.S. 15A-287). The federal appeals court that covers North Carolina has held that livestreaming a police traffic stop is speech protected by the First Amendment (Sharpe v. Winterville Police Department, 2023).
• Get witnesses: names, phone numbers and what each person saw.
• Document injuries: photograph them over several days, get medical care, and keep every record and bill.
• Keep your paperwork: any citation, property receipt, report number or business card an officer gave you.

Justice Sentinel lets you record these details as soon as possible after the encounter, so your notes, times and evidence are already in one place when you file.

Where do I file a complaint against a North Carolina police officer?

You can file in more than one place. Many people start with the agency and add the others that fit.

1. The officer's own agency

Every police department and sheriff's office takes complaints about its own officers, usually through internal affairs or professional standards. We did not find a statewide law that sets one procedure for how agencies handle complaints, but every agency must run an early warning system that tracks citizen complaints along with uses of force and firearm discharges (G.S. 17F-10).

• Charlotte: the police department accepts complaints, including anonymous ones. Internal Affairs investigates the more serious allegations, and an officer's supervisor investigates less serious ones. Some complaints are settled informally without a formal investigation. The department's target is 45 days, though complex cases can take longer. A complaint cannot be withdrawn.
• Raleigh: the Internal Affairs Unit takes complaints in person, by letter, by phone or by email, and accepts anonymous ones but cannot follow up on them. Its 2011 brochure says the final result is sent by registered mail.
• Durham: the police department accepts anonymous complaints, according to its 2025 Professional Standards report.

2. A city review board, on appeal

• Charlotte: the Citizens Review Board hears appeals of the police chief's decision on complaints about use of force, unbecoming conduct, arrest, search and seizure, and profiling, and on shootings that cause injury or death. Its role is advisory: it decides whether the chief clearly erred, and the city manager makes the final decision.
• Durham: the Civilian Police Review Board hears appeals of a possibly faulty investigation. The appeal must reach the City Clerk within 30 business days of the date on the police findings letter, and it is not heard if you have filed a claim or lawsuit.
• Raleigh: the Police Advisory Board does not investigate or respond to individual complaints.

3. An officer's state certification

The Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission certifies police officers, and the Sheriffs' Education and Training Standards Commission certifies deputies and detention officers. Their investigators look into rule violations reported by agencies, the media and other complaints, and sanctions range from a warning letter to suspension or revocation. Either commission must revoke a certification when it finds that the officer committed, or was convicted of, a felony (12 NCAC 09A .0204 and 10B .0204). Since 2021, each commission must keep a public database of the certifications it has suspended or revoked (G.S. 17C-14 and 17E-14).

• Report a law enforcement officer: the NC Department of Justice misconduct page. It links to the Criminal Justice Standards Division's investigations page, which has no online form but lists who to contact. For a sheriff's deputy or detention officer, you can also contact the Sheriffs' Standards Division.
• Sheriffs' Standards Division: the state division that certifies deputies and detention officers.
• Look up an officer: the public officer search, which shows suspensions and revocations. Some suspensions are only for missed training.

4. Deaths and crimes

The State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) must investigate a death caused by an officer's use of force, or a death in jail or prison custody, when the Governor, a sheriff, a police chief, a district attorney or certain other officials ask (G.S. 143B-1208.5). If you believe an officer committed a crime, contact the district attorney.

What happens after I file a police complaint?

North Carolina keeps most of an officer's personnel file confidential, including internal affairs findings (G.S. 160A-168 for cities, 153A-98 for counties). So agencies usually tell you only that your complaint was investigated and action was taken. What is public: the date and type of any suspension, demotion or dismissal, and the written notice of a final decision to fire an officer. In Charlotte, the city may tell the person harmed the outcome of disciplinary charges and the facts behind it.

Is there a deadline to file a police complaint in North Carolina?

The police pages covered here list no deadline for the complaint itself, but filing sooner helps while memories and video are fresh, and Durham's appeal window is 30 business days. If you face criminal charges from the encounter, consider talking to your defense lawyer before you file.

The deadlines for money damages:

• Assault, battery, false imprisonment, injury to person or rights: three years (G.S. 1-52).
• Wrongful death: two years (G.S. 1-53).
• Negligence claims against the State: filed with the Industrial Commission within three years under the State Tort Claims Act (G.S. 143-299).
• Sheriffs and deputies: a person injured by misconduct in office can sue the officer and the sheriff's official bond (G.S. 58-76-5).

Some city charters may set their own notice rules. Federal civil rights lawsuits follow different rules. A lawyer can tell you which deadlines apply to you.

How do I get police reports, records and body camera video?

Ask under the North Carolina Public Records Act. People often call it a FOIA request, but for North Carolina agencies it is a public records request.

• Response time: any person may ask, without giving a reason, and copies are due as promptly as possible (G.S. 132-6). There is no fixed number of days.
• Arrest and incident information: the time, date, place and nature of the violation, and the arrested person's name, charge and the circumstances of the arrest, are public even though investigation files are not (G.S. 132-1.4).
• Video showing a death or serious injury: a different process applies. The injured person, or their personal representative (a parent, spouse, court-appointed guardian or North Carolina lawyer; if the person died, also a surviving spouse, parent or adult child, or the estate's representative), fills out a signed, notarized form from the agency and gives it to the agency head. Within three business days, the agency must ask superior court to decide. There is no filing fee, and the court rules within seven business days. If the court allows it, you view the video in private and may not record or copy it (G.S. 132-1.4A(b1)-(b4)).
• Viewing body or dash camera video: recordings are not public records. For other recordings, if you are in the recording, ask the agency head in writing to see it. If the agency refuses or does not act within three business days, you can go to superior court.
• Getting a copy: a copy can be released only by court order. Anyone can petition superior court, and a person in the recording can use a quicker petition with no filing fee (G.S. 132-1.4A).

Justice Sentinel can generate a records request letter asking for the incident and arrest reports, dispatch logs and use-of-force reports from your incident. It does not ask for body or dash camera video, because in North Carolina that takes a written request to the agency head or a court petition, as described above.

When should I talk to a lawyer?

Talk to a lawyer soon if you were injured, arrested or charged, had property taken or damaged, or lost a family member, or if you think you may want money damages. Getting a copy of body camera video takes a court petition, and a lawyer can help you file it. If you face criminal charges from the encounter, consider talking to your defense lawyer before you file a complaint, because what you write could come up in your case. Legal aid offices, lawyer referral services and civil rights organizations can help you find one.

How does Justice Sentinel help you file a police complaint?

Justice Sentinel is a civil rights app that helps people document police encounters and turn what happened into a formal misconduct complaint, a public records request or a court declaration signed under penalty of perjury. You can start a draft for free; the filing-ready PDF, delivery and declaration review are paid options.

• Document the encounter: answer guided questions about what happened, and the app organizes your account, times, people and evidence.
• Misconduct complaint: a formal complaint about an officer or department, written in clear, official language, that puts your account on the record with the agency, oversight bodies or investigators.
• Public records request: a request for the incident and arrest reports, dispatch logs, use-of-force reports and messages about your incident. In North Carolina, getting a copy of camera video takes a court order, so the request leaves it out.
• Court declaration: a written statement of the facts that you sign under penalty of perjury. Our team reviews it for completeness and formatting and returns it to you, as a paid option. Courts have their own rules for declarations, so check them, or give it to your attorney, before you file it.
• File it yourself or have it sent: start free with a draft, then choose a paid option: download a filing-ready PDF and send it yourself, or have your complaint and records request delivered for you to the agency you choose, with tracking.
• Proof of delivery: when the agency's mail server confirms it received a complaint or records request we sent for you, you get a Certificate of Service recording when, where and what was sent, which your attorney can use as proof of delivery.
• Agency directory: look up thousands of US law enforcement agencies and start a complaint against the right one.
• Encrypted attorney messaging: if your attorney also uses Justice Sentinel, messages between the two of you in its end-to-end encrypted channel are sealed in your browser before they are sent, so Justice Sentinel can't read them.