Notice of complaint related to 2022-0437

OF
DATE
OFFICE OF
POLICE OVERSIGHT
NOTICE OF COMPLAINT
June 3, 2022
ICMS #: 2022-0437
On May 31, 2022, the OPO received an email complaint.
The complainant alleges: The following letter contains a detailed timeline of the true
events as they have happened to me. It also contains a clearly expressed concern for the
lack of a sense of urgency, professionalism and inadequate communication/response from
the APD. I am not only frustrated and disheartened in relation to my own situation and the
help
I
had
hoped to receive from APD. but I am also deeply concerned as a member
of
the citizenry of Austin that we the people are not being taken seriously or protected
effectively.
The pre-context in which the following took place: my ex-husband and I had, less than
weeks before this, finished a trial by jury in an extremely difficult custody battle. During
which he dropped the news that he was moving on his citizenship after 10 years and needed
the boy's birth certificates. In
of
months after divorce I learned the
carefully concealed news that he had cheated on me multiple times throughout the
marriage. I informed him I would turn him in for marriage fraud. He then sued me for full
custody of our at the time 4 and 7 year old kids in order to frighten me in to not reporting.
This is the context for my apprehension for my nervousness about the below phone call
about which I am reporting.
1)On
, a
at
I received an unexpected phone call from a
woman saying she was an USCIS agent. The phone call came from my ex-huband"s
current cell phone number. He was supposedly there in her office for his citizenship
interview and I could hear hime talking in the background. The call was 7.5mins long. With
my small boys present, I did not have a way to effectively record the call. I was suspicious
from the onset, but also nervous to not answer the questions asked. I was the sponsor for
his Greencard in
It in part because of that legal involvement that I wanted to report
the call as suspicious. I do not want unintentionally to be part of, nor am I, any scam he is
attempting to perpetrate en routes to receiving access to US
2)I spent several hours following the call trying to get anyone, any person in the field of
immigration/naturalization/citizenship/benefit fraud or any other official I could find to
help me verify whether or not a USCIS worker would have called me in that manner.
OF
GIVE
SUBMIT
OFFICE OF
POLICE OVERSIGHT
FOUNDED
NOTICE OF COMPLAINT
Finally, after no human was reachable in those areas, I called the Office of the Inspector
General in wash D.C. where someone did answer. The man let me explain, and then he told
me that a government employee of that nature WOULD NEVER call for that type of
business on a civilian's phone, on an unrecorded and unofficial line, and they would not
have asked me the questions that she did. He told me that I should in fact report it.
3) I went into the police station near
on
to make the report on the
following,
The lights were off. The woman at the front desk said she could not find
anyone to take my report and she said to make it on line. I expressed concern that the report
was involving child safety and immigration and she seems totally unconcerned as she
explained that it would be several days after filing online that someone would get around
to getting the report to the correct department.
4) Later on
I used the APD online reporting system and entered my report.
report
I took 30 minutes and carefully filled it out to ensure it would be
appropriately sorted and would not be cast aside for any form errors on my part.
confirmation of its receipt was given.
5) on
days!!!! later) I received an email at this email address, that the report
was rejected because it needed more information. I followed the given link and amended
it in exactly the requested manner. I used language that was verbatim off of the Inspector
general's website describing fraud/impersonating a government official. I resubmitted the
report.
6)on
after doing more than I am guessing many people would do effectively
file a police report, I received an email that my ammended report was being REJECTED.
How discouraging and scary I couldn't help but repeatedly think. I am trying to report
something potentially very serious, not something frivolous like "my neighbor took my
favorite pool float from my balcony," and I can't even successfully report the occurrence
either in person or online.
7)
very late at night I decide I will attempt to make the report via 311. I call. I
am given a reference number. I keep my phone on me, with ringer on, for several days
straight as to not miss the officer's callback
and nothing. No return call.
8)
At this point having lost all hope of the police ever protecting the kids in
emergency or otherwise, I decide to call 311 back and double/triple check that the error
OF
CITY
SERVICE
OFFICE OF
POLICE OVERSIGHT
FOUNDED
NOTICE OF COMPLAINT
was not mine. I called around
The call taker
indicated that No mistake
.
was made. They HAD STILL NOT OPENED OR ASSIGNED MY REPORT TO AN
OFFICER. SHE ENTERED AN UPDATE ON MY BEHALF> and she gave me this email
address.
The events described above when read together are either a truly disturbing account of
police ambivalence/blaseness towards non emergency reports, or perhaps a result of scaled
back department manpower. Either way they are unacceptable. The people of our citizen
will be discouraged from, or simple will never attempt, reporting suspicious/ criminal
activity if this is what they have to go thru to get the report filed.
This notice of complaint is a request for Internal Affairs to initiate an investigation to
determine if the employee conduct is within compliance of APD policy, Civil Service
Rules, and Municipal Civil Service Rules.