Utah County Sheriff's Office

The Compliment Process

The Utah County Sheriff’s Office is always pleased to hear about positive encounters with our employees. To file a compliment, you may call the Administrative Services Division at 801-851-4330 or Dispatch at 801-794-3970. State the name of the employee that you wish to compliment and your call will be forwarded to appropriate division so that a supervisor can receive the report. You may also fill out the Utah County Sheriff’s Office Compliment Form which can be accessed and downloaded from this website. A completed Compliment Form may be faxed to 801-851-4009 or mailed to:

Utah County Sheriff's Office
Attn. Administrative Services
3075 N. Main Street
Spanish Fork, Utah 84660

Filing a Complaint

In general, we believe deputy sheriffs' work in cooperation with citizens and that our contacts with citizens are positive. To insure that we function efficiently, while maintaining the rights of the citizens we protect, deputies are trained to follow a series of Sheriff’s Office policies and procedures and work within the guidelines of local, state, and federal laws. Because of the nature of law enforcement, we also understand that citizens on occasion may object to the police actions taken by deputies, or may feel their conduct is inappropriate. Therefore, we have established procedures for citizens to report their concerns to the Utah County Sheriff’s Office.

We consider a complaint to be an allegation from any source regarding circumstance(s) of a specific act or omission by a Sheriff’s Office employee which, if later proven to be true, would be misconduct and would normally subject the employee to the progressive disciplinary process or a citizen’s expression of dissatisfaction with an agency policy, procedure, philosophy, service level or legal standard of the Sheriff’s Office. However, we do not consider a disagreement over the elements of a traffic citation to be a complaint. Any disputes over traffic citations received should be taken to the appropriate jurisdictional court for resolution.

As a citizen, you are encouraged to contact the Sheriff’s Office if you have a complaint about the actions of a deputy sheriff or non-sworn employee if you believe their conduct was inappropriate or that they have violated the law. Although we encourage citizens to report police misconduct, complaints must be made in good faith. False or highly exaggerated complaints serve no good purpose for either the citizens or the deputy and only tend to thwart our complaint investigation process. Anyone who willfully makes any false accusation for the purpose of discrediting a deputy sheriff may be prosecuted under Utah State Criminal Code 76-8-504.5 for a Class A misdemeanor.

To initiate a complaint, you may contact the Internal Affairs - Police Conduct Unit Monday through Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., by calling 801-851-4330, 801-851-4331 or 801-851-4332. After hours and on weekends, you may contact the Dispatch Center by calling 801-794-3970 and request assistance from an on duty law enforcement supervisor. You will be asked to provide a written statement on an official complaint form regarding the nature of your complaint with as much detail concerning the incident and why you believe the deputy’s conduct was inappropriate. The form should be filled out as completely as possible.

The Sheriff’s Office Complaint Form can be e-mailed or faxed to you, as requested, or you may access and download the form from this website. Upon completing the form, you will be required to submit it, in person, to the Utah County Sheriff’s Office as you will be required to provide positive identification and sign, as the complainant, in front of a witness while at the Sheriff’s Office.

The Complaint Process

Every official citizen complaint is reviewed by the Administrative Services Division Commander. If the complaint is of conduct that would violate Sheriff’s Office policies and procedures or laws, an investigation will be authorized by the Sheriff and conducted. Depending on the seriousness of the complaint, some complaints will be referred to the Division Commander of the deputy or employee involved, who will assign a supervisor to investigate the complaint.

Investigators will interview the concerned parties and witnesses, record their statements, and gather other relevant data. The completed investigation will be forwarded to the Administrative Services Division Commander, who reviews the investigation, and then forwards the completed investigative report file to the Sheriff with a recommendation of one of the following dispositions:

• Substantiated: The investigation established that misconduct occurred.
• Not Substantiated: The investigation failed to produce sufficient evidence to clearly prove or disprove the allegation.
• Exonerated: The allegation did occur, but that it was justified, legal and proper.
• Unfounded: The allegation did not occur.
• Misconduct Other Than Allegation: Misconduct occurred, but was not a part of the original complaint.
• Policy Review: The allegation occurred and was in compliance with Sheriff’s Office Policy or policy did not exist, however, it is also determined that the allegation of misconduct could have been prevented had policy been more clear or complete.

Upon the completion of an Internal Affairs Investigation, the Administrative Services Division Commander will notify the complainant in writing, if the investigation is closed or the status of the complaint and their further right to appeal the decision to the Sheriff.