Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore announced recently her office will be adding a citizen’s complaint form to the DA’s to allow citizens to report excessive use of force by police officers.
“We have always encouraged citizens to make independent reports to our Office when they think they have been a victim of unlawful force by a public servant,” Moore said. “But, we are adding an electronic form to our website that will hopefully make the process easier for the public to access and use. It will also allow our prosecutors to review the complaints in a more efficient way.”
The TCDA website also offers other related data, including annual statistics, copies of letters issued in cases where prosecution is declined, a description of the special grand juries that are used specifically for civil rights cases, and a list of the community members who sit on the Civil Rights Advisory Council.
Moore explained further, “I think the common misconception is that these cases are easy to resolve and should be immediately presented to a grand jury. While I agree that the public is entitled to swift action and transparency to ensure justice for all sides, we have to make sure there is a thorough investigation into the facts of each case we receive. Sometimes this involves subpoenaing lab reports, phone records, ballistic reports, medical records, and other documents that are crucial to the case. It takes time to get these items from outside sources. To ensure the process is fair, we have to be able to anticipate the kinds of information the grand juries will want to know before we take a case before them. This is the same process that takes place in all felony cases.”
