PHOENIX FIRE DEPARTMENT

VOLUME 1 – Operations Manual

Complaint Management Process

MP 102.05B 1/22 – R
PURPOSE
A complaint management process is an important part of holding ourselves accountable to the public and
ensure we are achieving our organizational values. A thorough review of all complaints will provide
valuable prompts to review organizational performance, including the conduct of the members and
employees who work within the organization.

POLICY
It is the policy of the Phoenix Fire Department to thoroughly investigate all allegations of misconduct.

DEFINITIONS
Administrative Investigation: Investigations conducted by department management, personnel
representatives, and/or City Human Resources in response to complaints or concerns that generally are
personnel related and non-criminal in nature.

Admonishment: Is a verbal or written warning to employee(s) not to share or discuss information related
to the fact-finding/investigation or retaliate in any manner against other employee(s), investigator(s), or
supervisor(s) involved in the fact-finding/investigation.

Complaint: Is an expression of dissatisfaction from ANY source, internally and externally.

Fact-Finding: Is an initial review of allegation(s) or incident(s) that arise, to determine not only what
happened, but to assess the employee(s) involvement and determine the need for an administrative
investigation.

Garrity Protection: Is afforded to a member who may be compelled during the course of an administrative
investigation to give incriminating statements under threat of discipline or discharge from the city and those
statements may not be shared or used in a criminal prosecution of the individual member.

Notice of Finding (NOF): Is a brief written summary to the member(s)/employee(s) that details the final
disposition of the investigation as it relates to the allegation(s). This summary lists the specific policy(s)
and/or procedure(s) violation(s) that support the findings.

Notice of Inquiry (NOI): An NOI will be used to clearly put members/employees on notice that they are
under investigation that could result in discipline, inform them of the nature of the allegations against them,
and inform them of their right to union representation.

Office of Special Investigations (OSI): OSI is located within the PFD Personnel Section and Special
Investigators (SI) work directly for the Fire Chief and/or designee and conduct fact finding and
administrative investigations.
Personnel Rule 21b16: An employee failed to cooperate in an administrative investigation by refusing to
attend scheduled meetings, refusing to answer questions to the best of their knowledge, or willful
obstruction of an investigation.

Preponderance of Evidence: Requires that evidence and witness testimony show that a greater than 50
percent likelihood the alleged incident/conduct/policy violation occurred.

Subject Matter Expert (SME): Is an individual with a deep understanding of a particular job, process,
department, function, technology, machine, material or type of equipment.

Weingarten Rule: An employee has the right to request Union representation prior to an administrative
interview in which a supervisor questions an employee to obtain information which could be used as a basis
for discipline or asks an employee to defend his/her conduct, and the employee has a reasonable belief that
discipline, or discharge may result from what she/he says.

COMPLAINTS
Acceptance of Complaints:
Complaints may be accepted in person, over the telephone, in writing, via email or mail, internal or external,
anonymously or any other means possible and may come from a variety of sources. No employee should
attempt in any way to discourage, interfere, or delay an individual from filing a complaint.

Types of Complaints:
Complaints will be triaged into the following sub-categories

Formal Complaint An allegation of violation of a department policy.

Customer Service An allegation(s) of conduct where there is no clear violation of

policy. The customer’s expectation of service was not met but
would like to discuss the matter with a supervisor.

Information Only An allegation of conduct where there is no clear violation of

policy. The customer’s expectation of service was not met, and
the customer does not want contact.

Projects Projects involve missing property or some other administrative

tasks.

Disposition/Finding:
The appropriate disposition of the allegations(s) will be determined using the below findings. Did the
investigation establish a Preponderance of Evidence to support the allegation(s)?

Substantiated The preponderance of evidence makes it more likely than not that
the infraction happened.

Partially Substantiated The preponderance of the evidence makes it more likely than not
that a part of the infraction happened; or that the infraction
happened, but not as described.

Unsubstantiated You have no evidence that the infraction happened, nor evidence
to the contrary.
 Inconclusive There is some evidence to suggest that the infraction may have
happened, but not enough to meet the preponderance of evidence
standard.

PROCEDURE

Complaint Procedure
1. All complaints received will documented on complaint form #0000 and forwarded to OSI to be
triaged and disseminated.
o All associated information received during the acceptance of the complaint, including
recorded audio files, written documents, email, etc. will be forwarded with the complaint
form to OSI.
2. Complaints received during normal business hours will be referred to OSI.
3. During non-business hours, or in the event OSI is unavailable, complaints will be referred to a
departmental supervisor.
o If a supervisor is not available, the employee receiving the complaint should document
the complainant’s contact information, reason for complaint, and forward the information
to OSI.
4. OSI will catalog the complaint, assign it a case number, and contact the complainant to ensure all
facts and allegations are understood and documented.
5. All complaints of a serious or criminal allegation will be managed by OSI.
6. All complaints involving a violation of department policy will be managed by OSI.
7. OSI will forward a Complaint Form to the appropriate Deputy Chief/Section Head.
8. The assigned investigator will initiate contact with the complainant within 72 hours of receiving
the complaint.
9. The assigned investigator will review all relevant facts related to the complaint (fact finding).
10. During the fact finding, if the investigator determines a violation of department policy, the
investigation will be forwarded to OSI.
11. If a policy violation is identified, a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) will be issued detailing the complaint
and allegations. (Unit 5 M.O.U. Section 1-4. E.)
12. At the conclusion of the investigation, the investigator will thoroughly document the findings and
provide a final report (investigative summary/findings memo) to the appropriate Deputy
Chief/Section Head for review.
13. The Deputy Chief/Section Head will determine if the facts support the findings.
14. The Deputy Chief/Section Head will approve the final report and forward to OSI.
15. OSI investigator will determine if the facts support the findings.
16. OSI investigator will update the complaint log with the findings of the investigation.
17. In conjunction with the Personnel Chief, the Deputy Chief/Section Head will determine the
appropriate corrective action i.e., remedial training, coaching/counseling, discipline, etc.
18. The Executive Chief over personnel will approve all findings, and appropriate corrective action
i.e., remedial training, coaching/counseling, discipline etc.
19. The accused employee will be provided a Notice of Findings (NOF).
20. If requested, employee(s) who receives a written reprimand or suspension may request a copy of
the information upon which the written reprimand or suspension was based, pertaining to what was
specifically cited in the discipline at no cost to the employee. (Unit 5 M.O.U. Section 1-4. E.)
21. The final report of findings and any discipline notices will be filed appropriately (supervisor’s file,
employee HR and/or personnel file, etc.).
22. When possible, all complaint investigations should be completed within 90 days of assignment.
23. It is the responsibility of the Deputy Chief/Section Head to ensure investigations are completed and
the disposition/finding(s) is returned to OSI.
 24. If necessary, contact the complainant and inform them your investigation is concluded.
o *Note: the results of the investigation should not be shared with the complainant, only
that the investigation is complete, and all appropriate actions are being taken.
o If the complainant demands to know the findings of their complaint, direct them to:
https://www.phoenix.gov/firesite/Pages/servicesPublicRecords.aspx.
o This will allow the department the ability to redact all sensitive and protected information.

Addendum A – Investigative Process

• Addendum A, the Investigative Process, is not part of the Complaint Management Policy but is a
reference on how to conduct an investigation.