Code of Conduct Reporting Guidelines

GENERAL

If you would like to report a violation of our Code of Conduct, please fill out this report form or email us at cpca@californiapolicechiefs.org. You are welcome to submit a report anonymously. If you believe anyone is in physical danger, please notify appropriate law enforcement immediately.

If a person involved in a report is on our team, they will not be included in responding to the report, except as required by law or equity. All reports are kept confidential. In some cases, we may determine that a public statement will need to be made, but the identities of all victims and reporters will remain confidential unless otherwise agreed upon.

We also reserve the right to reject any report we believe to have been made in bad faith or intended to silence legitimate criticism.

REQUESTED INFORMATION

In your report you will be asked to include:

• Your contact info (so we can get in touch with you if we need to follow up; if you are submitting anonymously, you can use another contact method).
• Names (real, nicknames, or pseudonyms) of any individuals involved. If there were other witnesses in addition to you, please try to include them as well.
• When and where the incident occurred. Please be as specific as possible.
• Your account of what occurred that you believe may have been in violation of the Code of Conduct. If there is a publicly available record (e.g., a mailing list archive, a tweet, etc.) please include a link for the record.
• Any extra context that you believe exists for the incident that may be of assistance in the investigation of the incident.
• If you believe this incident is ongoing.
• Any other information you believe we should have.

REPORTING PROCEDURE

The following process will take place after you submit a report:

1. CPCA will review the incident and determine:
   • What happened.
   • Whether this event constitutes a violation of the Code of Conduct.
   • Who potentially violated the Code of Conduct.
   • Whether this is an ongoing situation, or if there is a threat to anyone's physical safety.
2. If it is determined to be an ongoing incident or a threat to physical safety, our immediate priority will be to protect everyone involved. This means we may delay an "official" response until we believe that the situation has ended and that everyone is physically safe.
3. After a report is received and reviewed by CPCA leadership, it will be referred to the CPCA Executive Committee for final determination as outlined in our Code of Conduct.