How do I file a complaint against a police officer in Pennsylvania?

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. The federal appeals court that covers Pennsylvania has held that the First Amendment protects recording police officers doing their jobs in public, subject to reasonable time, place and manner limits (Fields v. City of Philadelphia, 2017). Pennsylvania's Wiretap Act requires everyone's consent to record a conversation in which people expect privacy, so be careful recording private conversations.
• 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 Pennsylvania police officer?

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

1. The officer's own department

Every police department takes complaints about its own officers, usually through internal affairs. We did not find a statewide law that sets one procedure for how departments handle complaints, so each department follows its own rules. Ask the department for its written complaint procedure. Under Act 57 of 2020, every department must keep a record of civil and ethical complaints against each officer and how they ended, and a hiring department must check that record before hiring an officer.

• Pennsylvania State Police: takes complaints online, by phone, by mail or in person at any station, at any hour. Mailed complaints need the original signed verification form. It also receives anonymous complaints, but its 2025 report says only 2 of the 85 it received met its criteria for investigation.

2. A city oversight board

• Philadelphia: the Citizens Police Oversight Commission takes complaints online, by email, by phone, by mail, in person, at any police district or through 311. Anyone who experienced or saw misconduct can file, and you can stay anonymous. There is no deadline, but some video is kept only a short time, so filing sooner helps. If you face criminal charges from the encounter, consider talking to your defense lawyer before you file.
• Pittsburgh: the Citizen Police Review Board takes complaints by phone, email, fax, mail or in person. A complaint must be filed within six months of the incident. For the board to investigate, you must also give a notarized written statement, and a notary is available at the board's office.

3. Crimes and civil rights violations

The Pennsylvania Attorney General says it has no direct authority over police departments or police misconduct. It sends people to the department's internal affairs, the county district attorney, or the U.S. Department of Justice. The Attorney General prosecutes local police misconduct only when a district attorney refers the case, or when a court lets it take over a case the district attorney failed to prosecute. Its Civil Rights Enforcement Section looks at patterns of misconduct.

• Attorney General, civil rights: the page with its online civil rights complaint.

4. An officer's state certification

The Municipal Police Officers' Education and Training Commission (MPOETC) certifies municipal officers. It can revoke a certification for reasons such as no longer being employed as a police officer, a disqualifying criminal conviction, knowingly false documents, or failing required training. The department must tell it when an officer's employment ends or when an officer is arrested for a disqualifying offense. Misconduct is not itself a listed ground, and the commission does not describe a way for the public to complain to it.

What happens after I file a police complaint?

• Philadelphia: the commission tries to send your complaint to Internal Affairs within five business days, Internal Affairs decides within two to three weeks whether to investigate, and you get a findings letter by mail. There is no investigation if the officer has left the department.
• Pittsburgh: when the review board finds misconduct, the police chief or mayor must respond within 30 working days.
• Pending charges: Philadelphia advises talking to a lawyer before filing if you face criminal charges from the incident.

Is there a deadline to file a police complaint in Pennsylvania?

Philadelphia's commission has no deadline, but Pittsburgh's review board requires six months. The deadlines for money damages are strict:

• Notice to the government: within six months of the injury, file a signed written statement with the government unit. It must name you, give the date, hour and approximate place of the incident, and name any doctor who treated you. For a state agency, also send a copy to the Attorney General (42 Pa.C.S. 5522).
• Other suits against an officer for official acts: six months, unless another deadline in the law applies, such as the two years below for assault, false arrest or personal injury (42 Pa.C.S. 5522(b)).
• Assault, battery, false arrest, malicious prosecution, personal injury: two years (42 Pa.C.S. 5524).
• Defamation and invasion of privacy: one year (42 Pa.C.S. 5523).

Pennsylvania also limits when you can sue the state or a local government at all, and caps damages. 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?

Most records are requested under Pennsylvania's Right-to-Know Law. People often call it a FOIA request, but for Pennsylvania agencies it is a Right-to-Know request. Police video follows its own law.

• Response time: the agency must respond within five business days, and silence counts as a denial. It can take up to 30 more days if it tells you in writing. You can appeal within 15 business days. Most appeals go to the Office of Open Records. But if a local police department denies criminal investigative records, such as investigation files, the appeal goes to an appeals officer chosen by the county district attorney.
• Discipline records: complaint and internal affairs files are generally exempt, but a final agency action that demotes or fires an employee is public.
• Body and dash camera video: request it within 60 days of the recording, by personal delivery or certified mail, with the date, time and place and how you were involved. If it happened inside a home, also name everyone who was there, unless you don't know and can't reasonably find out. The agency has 30 days to answer. If it denies you, you can appeal to the county court within 30 days (the court filing fee is $125).

Justice Sentinel can generate a records request letter asking for the incident and arrest reports, body and dash camera video, dispatch logs and use-of-force reports from your incident.

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. The six-month notice deadline, and the 60-day window for police video, go fast. 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, and body and dash camera video in states where it is a public record.
• 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.