r/legaladvice•
djester808

Police officer made determination on my fraud reports without reviewing submitted evidence, became hostile and reversed decision when I called this out. Is this a violation of any kind?

Location: Duluth, Minnesota

I'm a small business owner trying to figure out if what happened with a police officer is misconduct, normal behavior, or something I should be filing a formal complaint about. Trying to understand if I have standing for a complaint and what specifically the violations might be.

Quick background: I run an online business that has been hit with multiple chargeback fraud incidents (customers receive their orders, keep the merchandise, then file fraudulent chargebacks with their card companies to recover the money). I went to the police to file reports on two specific incidents.

Here's the sequence of what happened:

  1. First contact: I asked the officer to file 2 separate police reports for 2 separate incidents. He was audibly annoyed at having to create 2 reports.

  2. Officer asked me to submit all relevant evidence. I sent emails, screenshots, conversations, order records, and tracking documentation.

  3. Officer called back saying both cases were "civil matters" but he COULD submit them to the DA if I wanted.

  4. I asked questions about his review and discovered he hadn't opened or reviewed most of what I submitted. He admitted he "couldn't open the files" and said he was "not familiar with that system."

  5. He didn't escalate to IT, didn't ask me for alternative formats, didn't reach out to a supervisor. He just made the determination without reviewing the evidence.

  6. I raised two concerns: his annoyed attitude in the previous call AND the fact that he made his determination without reviewing the documents.

  7. He raised his voice in response, threatened to end the conversation if I interrupted him.

  8. After I raised those concerns, he reversed his earlier offer and said he would NOT submit the cases to the DA.

My questions:

- Is making a determination on a case without reviewing submitted evidence a violation of any kind? Department policy? Professional standards?

- Is the reversal of his offer to submit to the DA, occurring immediately after I called out his conduct, a form of retaliation? Does that rise to anything legally actionable?

- Even if these are civil matters, am I entitled to a proper police report being created with the evidence I submitted, so I can pursue civil remedies?

- Where should I file a complaint? Internal Affairs at Duluth PD? Minnesota POST Board? Both?

- Is this worth pursuing, or am I overreacting?

Not looking to make a federal case out of this. Just trying to understand if my read on this is reasonable, and what the appropriate next steps are. Thanks for any input.

Posted Jun 29, 2026, 11:33 PM UTC

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