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

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. Washington's privacy law requires everyone's consent to record a private conversation (RCW 9.73.030), but a state appeals court held that officers doing their jobs on a public street are not having a private conversation (State v. Flora, 1992), and the federal appeals court for Washington relied on that ruling (Johnson v. Hawe, 2004).
• 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 Washington police officer?

You can file in more than one place. Many people file with the agency and with the state commission.

1. The officer's own agency

Police departments and sheriff's offices generally take complaints about their own officers, usually through internal affairs or professional standards. State law requires local police and sheriff's offices to have a fair, accessible complaint process for racial profiling (RCW 43.101.410). Agencies must report to the state within 15 days when an officer is criminally charged, causes death or serious injury with force, leaves the agency, or faces discipline that could lead to decertification, and they cannot drop an investigation just because the officer resigns or retires.

• Tacoma: the police department's Internal Affairs Section takes complaints in person, by mail, by email or on a 24-hour recorded phone line. It accepts anonymous complaints, though it says it can investigate those less fully, and it tells you the outcome.

2. The state Criminal Justice Training Commission

Since 2021, anyone can file a written complaint directly with the CJTC, which certifies every officer in the state. It reviews all complaints, including anonymous ones, confirms receipt within two business days, and resolves every complaint with a written decision. It investigates allegations that could lead to revoking or suspending an officer's certification, such as unlawful force, failing to stop or report excessive force, sexual harassment, discrimination or false statements. Anyone who files in good faith is immune from being sued for it.

• CJTC complaint process: the online form and how to send attachments.
• Look up an officer: the CJTC's public certification database, which by law shows investigations, separations and decertifications.

3. A city oversight office

• Seattle: the Office of Police Accountability takes complaints online, anonymously online, by email, by phone, by mail or in person by appointment. Witnesses can file too, and interpretation is free.
• Spokane: the Office of Police Ombuds takes complaints in writing, by phone, online or in person, and must receive them within 12 months of the incident.

4. Deaths and deadly force

The state Office of Independent Investigations, in the Governor's office, investigates police use of deadly force. A 2026 law also lets it investigate a death during or after another use of force by an officer, when that force may have caused or contributed to the death. It is taking on the state in stages. It began responding on December 1, 2024 in 12 western Washington counties, including Southwest Washington and the Olympic Peninsula, and added Pierce County on May 1, 2026. It does not yet respond to cases in the rest of the state, including King County. There, these cases are generally investigated by regional independent investigation teams made up of officers from other agencies. It takes new evidence about past deadly force cases through an online form. If you believe an officer committed a crime, contact the county prosecutor.

What happens after I file a police complaint?

• Seattle: the Office of Police Accountability sends a notice that it received your complaint, usually with a case number (not every complaint gets one). It tries to finish within 120 days, and the police chief decides any discipline.
• Spokane: the Ombuds may look into your complaint first and decide whether to send it on. If it does, police Internal Affairs gets it within three business days, and the department tells you the finding in writing.
• CJTC: if the commission investigates, it tells you whether it declined the case or brought charges against the officer's certification. You are not a party to that case.
• Your complaint may be public: Seattle warns that complaints can be released under the Public Records Act.

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

Spokane requires 12 months, and Seattle may close a complaint filed more than about five years after the incident. The CJTC lists no deadline. The deadlines for money damages:

• Tort claim first: before suing a local government, file a claim with its designated agent on the standard tort claim form, then wait 60 days. The deadline to sue is paused during that wait (RCW 4.96.020). Claims against the State go to the Office of Risk Management on the same form (RCW 4.92.100).
• Assault, battery, false imprisonment, defamation: two years (RCW 4.16.100).
• Other injury to a person or their rights: three years (RCW 4.16.080).

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 Washington Public Records Act. People often call it a FOIA request, but for Washington agencies it is a public records request.

• Response time: within five business days the agency must give you the records, acknowledge the request with a reasonable time estimate, ask you to clarify, or deny it in writing with reasons (RCW 42.56.520).
• Misconduct records: the Washington Supreme Court has held that a police department's internal investigation report about an officer cannot be withheld as a whole. In a case about an unsubstantiated sexual misconduct allegation, it allowed only the officer's name to be redacted (Bainbridge Island Police Guild v. City of Puyallup, 2011).
• Body camera video: your request must identify at least one of: a person involved, a case number, the date, time and place, or an officer. If you were involved, you do not pay redaction costs. Agencies must keep recordings at least 60 days, and video inside a home may be withheld for privacy (RCW 42.56.240).

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. Body camera video may be kept only 60 days, and the two-year limit for assault or false arrest goes 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.