Complaints & Commendations

If we’ve done something well, we’d like to hear about it. If we fell short of your expectations, we’d like to hear that too. The members of the Bainbridge Island Police Department believe It’s important to maintain open dialogue with those we serve and we welcome feedback of any kind. Criticisms are perhaps most important because they help us improve our level of service.

There are several ways to provide feedback:

You may share your complaint or commendation by phone, in-person, through email, or regular mail. We have a complaint form as a convenience to you, but it is not necessary to use one. We also offer a completely paperless option for complaints or commendations through this fill-in form,

Whatever method you choose, please direct your feedback to Joseph Clark, Chief of Police, Bainbridge Island Police Department. Chief Clark's email is policechief@bainbridgewa.gov, Our mailing address is 625 Winslow Way E, Bainbridge Island, WA, 98110.

A few things to know about complaints:

•  All complaints are documented, reviewed by the chief of police, and investigated to the fullest extent possible.

•  Complaints can be submitted anonymously, but if you do not provide your name or contact information, it may hinder us from conducting a complete investigation or reduce our ability to provide follow up regarding disposition of your complaint.

•  The chief of police will assign an investigator to review the allegation and conduct an investigation, then makes a determination based on the results of that investigation. This determination is called a ’finding.’  Complainants will be notified of findings whenever possible, usually in writing.

• The chief of police reserves the right to give a complaint an incomplete or insufficient disposition based on incomplete, false, or purposefully misleading information.

We do our best to ensure that all complaints are investigated thoroughly, fairly, and consistently, but if you feel the nature of your complaint requires an independent assessment or further inquiry, you may take your complaint to:

Complaint Statistics

If you are looking for statistics about complaints lodged against the BIPD, that information is published annually in our Professional Standards Report. See the our 'Information and Statistics' page.