Travis County DA adds online form for excessive force complaints

Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore announced Friday that her office has added an online form to report excessive use of force by police. The Use of Force Private Complaint Form is available on the DA’s Civil Rights Unit site. A press release from Moore explains that in addition to the new complaint form, the website offers “other helpful information including annual statistics about the cases handled by the unit, copies of declination 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, “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. 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.”