The Boston College Police Department strives to develop and maintain positive relationships with all members of the Boston College community and endeavors to provide the highest quality of service possible. Our goal is to ensure that BCPD employees are guided by principles so every individual they come in contact with be treated equally and with dignity.
A citizen complaint, and its subsequent investigation, causes the police to examine the services that are provided to the BC community and to make improvements as needed.
Each complaint will be accepted in a courteous and professional manner. All complaints will be properly documented and investigated in a timely fashion with appropriate follow up. Anonymous complaints, while accepted will limit our ability to adequately resolve the issue without corroborating information.
If you wish to file a formal complaint, please click on the button below. A trained investigator will be assigned and will be in contact with you. If you would like to immediately speak with a Police Supervisor about the incident please call 617-552-4440 and ask for the on duty supervisor.
Complaint Investigation
The Boston College Police Department, along with its many law enforcement duties, is often called upon to perform community based services which are unrelated to the detection, investigation, or acquisition of evidence associated with the violation of criminal statutes. Much of our time is spent in community orientated crime prevention patrol; where there is a principal University interest in the broader issue of community safety. In accomplishing this mission, conflicts can arise on how best to meet this challenge while still ensuring individual rights remain protected.
To address this issue, BCPD has a designated command staff officer as the Department's Internal Affairs Investigator, who reports directly to the Director of Public Safety.
The primary responsibility of Internal Affairs is to respond to any allegation of misconduct against the Department. The Internal Affairs Officer is responsible for registering, recording, and controlling the investigation of complaints against BCPD employees. Duties also include supervising and controlling the investigation of alleged misconduct within the department and maintaining the confidentiality of these investigations and corresponding records. The internal affairs process helps make certain that the integrity of the Department is maintained through a system where objectivity and fairness is assured by thorough impartial investigation and review.
The objectives of our internal affairs investigations are:
- Protection of the BC community;
- Fairness and objectivity to our employees;
- Community education concerning police actions;
- Correction of procedural and/or personnel problems and;
- Education, retraining, or corrective action when warranted.
Alleged or suspected violations of law, ordinances, Department or University rules, regulations, policies, procedures, and/or orders are investigated according to established procedures.
This reporting process is not intended to be utiized for crime or incident reporting, which would require immediate police response.