Savannah Police launches app for citizens to submit complaints and compliments

Drew Favakeh, Savannah Morning News
Updated ·4 min read
Crime and Public Safety
Crime and Public Safety

The Savannah Police Department (SPD) has implemented a feature on its mobile app that allows citizens to send in complaints and compliments about SPD officers.

The reporting system, which went live on April 3, can be accessed through the Savannah Police app. In the bottom-right corner of the app reads a widget, “Internal Affairs Online Reporting.” After clicking that, citizens are directed to give a “new complaint” or “new compliment.”

After clicking one of those two options, citizens are directed to provide their first and last name, though they can also opt for anonymity. Citizens can also include their phone number or email if they want to be directly contacted about the status of their complaint or compliment. Citizens are provided a reference number to track the status. Citizens must provide a summary of the incident, limited to 4,000 characters and, if possible, the officer’s name and additional witnesses.

The implementation of the feature on the app comes more than two years after SPD Chief Lenny Gunther made his first public presentation as chief on Jan. 26, when he spoke before Savannah City Council at its annual public safety workshop. “SPD will become a more customer-driven and forward-facing and transparent department,” Gunther said at the workshop.

In a press release, Gunther said, “This implementation marks a significant milestone in our ongoing efforts to strengthen transparency and accountability within our department. By providing the public with direct access to pertinent information, we are fostering a culture of openness and trust, essential elements in our mission to serve and protect the Savannah community."

The software implementation comes as citizen-initiated complaints are decreasing within the department. Although citizen-initiated complaints at SPD increased between 2020 and 2022 ― from 48to 78 during that time period ― they have decreased since, according to statistics obtained from SPD. In 2023, there were 49 citizen-initiated complaints, and thus far in 2024, there have been 20.

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In the bottom-right corner of the Savannah Police app reads a widget, “Internal Affairs Online Reporting.”
In the bottom-right corner of the Savannah Police app reads a widget, “Internal Affairs Online Reporting.”
After submitting your complaint or compliment, you will receive a confirmation message.
After submitting your complaint or compliment, you will receive a confirmation message.
After submitting your complaint or compliment, you can opt to receive a confirmation text message or email.
After submitting your complaint or compliment, you can opt to receive a confirmation text message or email.
Citizens must provide a summary of the incident, limited to 4000 characters, and if possible, the officer’s name and additional witnesses.
Citizens must provide a summary of the incident, limited to 4000 characters, and if possible, the officer’s name and additional witnesses.

Paper complaints weren’t working

Before 2019, all citizen complaints were made on paper and were kept in three-ring binders, explained Capt. David Barefield, SPD Internal Affairs Commander. Once the case was closed, it was scanned as a digital document.

The complaints were searchable through a digital database, but the physical file that moved through the chain of command for recommendations was sometimes difficult to locate, said Barefield.

When Barefield was promoted from Criminal Investigations Division (CID) Lieutenant to Commander, one of the first things he did was a case file audit. What that audit found was SPD needed a system in place to track the internal affairs files and subsequently, SPD released IAPro, an electronic database that tracks the internal affairs files electronically.

The idea of the public portal stemmed from a conference Barefield attended in November 2021. The IAPro Public Portal launched last month as the public-facing website that allows citizens to submit compliments or complaints. The latest configuration allowed citizens to send complaints and compliments both on the website and on the app.

To implement IAPro, SPD contracted with Versaterm, a Canadian-based company that develops records management systems for law enforcement agencies. The City of Savannah’s contract with Versaterm began in 2019, said Barefield. IAPro was acquired through the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG).

When SPD used the paper complaint system, it typically took one to two months for SPD to resolve a rudeness complaint, said Barefield. Since the implementation of IAPro, similar complaints are commonly resolved within 30 days.

Not every citizen complaint is investigated by SPD Internal Affairs, only the most egregious and complex complaints, Barefield explained. In 2023, 33% of cases were handled by Internal Affairs whereas 67% were handled by officers' direct supervisors. After a supervisor disciplines an officer, IA investigators ensure that the discipline is documented, before closing the file.

“I would anticipate that maybe we'll receive some more and hopefully we do,” Barefield said, speaking about the number of citizen complaints and compliments. “We want to make sure that we're held accountable. We want to make sure the same thing [happens for] the positive interactions. If there's an officer that's doing good things, we definitely want to hear about that.”

Drew Favakeh is a public safety and courts reporter for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at AFavakeh@savannahnow.com.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah Police launches app for citizens to submit complaints and compliments