DEPARTMENT REPORTING AND RECORDS RETENTION SYSTEMEPD702.0
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DEPARTMENT REPORTING AND RECORDS RETENTION SYSTEMEPD702.0
TITLEDEPARTMENT REPORTING AND RECORDS RETENTION SYSTEM
/ PROCEDURE NUMBEREPD702.0
SECTIONREPORTING PROCEDURES
/NUMBER OF PAGES
6 / EFFECTIVE DATE10/22/2014 / REVIEW DATE
NEW AMENDS RESCINDS
DATE: / CALEA CHAPTER
82
/ AUTHORITYChief Stephen Walker
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DEPARTMENT REPORTING AND RECORDS RETENTION SYSTEMEPD702.0
I. PURPOSE
The purpose of this general order is to establish a Department reporting and retention system within the Department.
II. POLICY
A. Police reports are of major importance to a modern police department. Information contained therein is the basis of the daily activity of a police department. Crimes, and subsequent events relating to them, must be promptly noted and reported. Numerous non-criminal activities of concern to the police department must also be reported.
Members of the department should bear in mind that their reports are likely to be seen by numerous public and private agencies. As a result, the professional image of both the department and the individual officer is reflected in the quality of reports submitted.
B. Some of the more important uses of police reports are as follows:
1. They create a permanent record of the subject matter reported.
2. They are used in compiling statistics relative to crime.
3. They are used in investigating and prosecuting crime.
4. They are used asreferences in civil matters by attorneys, adjusters or other litigants, and may become a matter of public record or publication.
C. The PGPD Records Section disseminates Criminal History Record Information (CHRI) and Juvenile Criminal History Record Information (JHRI) and is the custodian of EPD reports submitted to PGPD.
1. EPD shall maintain copies of all reportsfor the record retention period. They may then be destroyed unless the subject of official need or litigation.
a. Original EPD Station Reports are maintained by this agency and may be destroyed after three (3) years.
2. All police related communications and data are to be treated by officers as confidential, subject to privacy and security laws.
3. Officers shall not engage in secondary dissemination of police related records, except for accident reports. All other disseminations will originate from the PGPD Records Section. Officers may provide proof of loss verification to interested parties.
4. The PGPD Records Section information is continuously available through telex terminals at PGPD District Stations throughout the County.
5. Requests for copies of accident reports or incident reports for incident verification purposes are made to the PGPD Records Section using theReport/Photograph Request Form (P.G.C. Form #3864). The form may be mailed or taken to PGPD Records Section. These records are also available from the Town.
6. Officers handling accidents and property crimes likely to trigger insurance claims shall provide Report/Photograph Request Forms to the appropriate principals and provide the CCN.
7. Officers shall refer inquiries regarding release of JHRI to the PGPD Records Section.
8. The Director, PGPD Records Section notifies the Department of court ordered expungements. Assigned personal receiving Expungement Notices shall place them with the files subject to the expungement. No officer shall disclose the contents of expunged records.
9. Officers may release accident report information to the following:
a. Drivers;
b. Parents or guardians of juvenile principals;
c. Owners of vehicles or damaged property;
d. Persons or agencies who may incur civil liability;
e. Attorneys or authorized representatives of any of the above; and
f. Insurance companies.
10. PGPD Records Section maintains all reports and related items, e.g. photographs and citations for traffic related records. These records are also available from the Town.
11. EPD maintains records, through the use of the UCR Part I offenses and Part II principal offenses, to include at a minimum:
a. Service calls and crimes by type;
b. Service calls and crimes by location; and
c. Stolen, found, recovered and evidentiary property files.
III. REPORTING DEFINITIONS
A. Victim - Any person who suffers death, physical injury or mental anguish, or loss of property as a result of an act or actual or attempted offense committed by another. A T/A shall not be recorded as a victim.
B. Principals - Reporting persons, victims, witnesses or other persons who have any direct involvement with a crime or event.
C. T/A - Public or private establishment involved in an incident.
D. Reporting Person - A person who reports an incident to the police.
E. Witness - A person having knowledge of circumstances of an incident.
F. Field Observation - The recording of an investigation of a suspicious activity, person or vehicle.
G. Suspect - A person believed to have committed an offense or who is believed to be involved in a suspicious activity but has not been arrested or charged.
IV. REPORT PROCEDURES
A. In preparing reports, officers shall complete detailed reports on prescribed forms for all incidents, unless accepted by written General Order. All reports shall be prepared in conformance with General Orders and the PGPD Report Writing Instruction Manual. This Manual also contains a listing of incident types and titles.
B. All reports and charging documents require a Central Complaint Number (CCN). Original CCN is obtained from a PGPD CAD computer or PGPD Police database.
C. When completing reports officers are required to:
1. If written, complete all reports in black ink or may be typed;
2. For all reports:
a.Complete all applicable blocks on report forms, citations and court documents neatly and legibly;
b. Fully spell out proper names and business names, capitalize last names, followed by the first and middle names;
c. Provide all addresses; and
d. Use military time for all reports and Departmental communications.
C. A report will be generated for every incident in one or more of the following categories if the incident is alleged to have occurred in the Town’s jurisdiction:
1. Citizen reports of crimes;
2. Citizen complaints;
3. Incidents resulting in an employee being dispatched or assigned;
4. Criminal and non-criminal cases initiated by law enforcement employees; and
5. Incidents involving arrests, citations, or summonses.
D. All reports will be submitted within three days, if under investigation must be placed on HOLD.
1. The Supervisor will record the report and return to the officer for completion.
2. Supervisor will review and approve (by signature) all paperwork prepared by subordinates, including citations and other forms not submitted under a promise of confidentiality. The Supervisor will:
a. Place approved reports in a designated location within the station to be transported to PGPD District I (for courier transmission to PGPD Records Section);
b. Transmit rejected reports to the original writer for correction.
3. Supervisors shall have their reports approved by another supervisor.
4. A day watch officer will hand carry all approved and signed reports to the PGPD District I station to be delivered to PGPD Records Section.
F. Telephone Reporting
1. PGPD Telephone Reporting Unit (TRU) handles certain calls for service by telephone. Officers becoming aware of any call for service within the Town shall provide for physical response by an officer unless no Town officer is immediately available to respond or unless authorized by a supervisor.
2. At the direction of a supervisor, any report call not requiring the on-scene response of an officer may be handled by an officer receiving the information by telephone.Types of reports that may be handled in this manner are:
a. Reports providing supplemental information that do not involve physical evidence, i.e., credit card information, serial numbers for stolen items, additional suspect descriptors, etc.
b. Reports of property crimes that occurred at another location, with no suspect information, where the delay in reporting has eliminated the possibility of physical evidence collection, i.e., theft from auto reported the next day or from the victim’s residence outside the Town’s jurisdiction.
c. Reports of hit and run parking lot accidents and property damage, with no suspect information, where the damage is reported after leaving the area or reported a day or days later after the incident.
V. REPORT FORMS
A. Initial Reports - Incidents for which an initial report is prepared shall be documented on one of the following reports:
1. Alcohol Influence Report (P.G.C. Form #3881)
2. Animal Bite Report
3. Incident Report
4. acres MSP
5. Special Report (P.G.C. Form#3530)
6. Youth Field Report (Form #J-2)
7. Missing Person Report
B. Supporting Reports - will be used when appropriate. An initial report may be used as a supporting form, e.g., Alcohol Influence Report used to support a Motor Vehicle Accident Report (MAARS). Use Continuation Reports (P.G.C. Form #3529A) to document additional information.
C. Station Reports - are used to document minor incidents which are non-recurring and do not require follow-up investigation. These reports do not require a CCN.
D. Officers Daily Report (ODR) - shall be completed as the officer completes an activity. Any activity is to be recorded on the ODR. Additionally:
1. Report CCN is to be recorded on the ODR;
2. Each citation shall be listed as a separate entry, except that multiple citations written at one site, e.g., radar operation, DUI checkpoint, seat belt and child safety seat checkpoint, etc., may be listed as one entry with a total number of citations listed for the entry;
3. Vehicle checks are documented on the ODR.
E. Condition Reports (P.G.C. Form #2003) - shall be utilized to report obvious littering violations and related conditions. The completed report shall be forwarded to the appropriate agency for maintenance or correction of the violation. The condition report does not require a CCN and is transmitted in the same manner as other initial reports. Examples of when this report would be used are as follows:
1. DER Property Standards Division for littered lots, debris on residential/commercial property, and junked or unlicensed automobiles on private property.
2. DER Construction Standards Division for grading without a permit and failure to follow permit requirements.
3. Department of Public-Works & Transportation (DPW&T) for littered roadside; and mud and debris on road (non-construction related).
4. Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC)forclogged storm drains.
5. Maryland-National Capital Park & Planning Commission (MNCPPC) for littered park, if the condition is one for which the Town Public Works Department is responsible the officer shall make a notation in the ODR in lieu of completing a Condition Report.
VI. CLEARING CALLS FOR SERVICE
A. Whenever an officer clears a call indicating that a report has been written, the dispatcher enters the officer’s report code into the CAD system. Calls, which would normally be cleared with a report code, include the following:
1. Accident Report
2. Animal Bite Report
3. Arrest Report
4. Continuation Report
5. Incident Report
6. Maryland Uniform Criminal/Civil Citation
7. Property Record
8. Special Report
9. Traffic citations for DUI cases
10.Vehicle Release & Show Cause Hearing
Notification
11. J-2
B. Calls not requiring a report may be cleared with the appropriate CAD code indicating no written report needed. The following do not require a report:
1. Unfounded complaints
2. Misdemeanors that occurred outside of Town jurisdiction
3. Dispatched complaints cancelled by the dispatcher
4. Complaints not verified, unable to locate, or gone on arrival
5. Assignments where police response is necessary, but for which a report would simply duplicate data on the CAD entry, e.g., loud radio, civil matters, routine disorderly conduct incidents. Officers will note the details of these incidents in the Officers Duty Report (ODR).
6. Dispatched assignment, classifications may be changed by the investigating officer and/or supervisor if in their view they believe a report would be appropriate.
7. An initial dispatch to a miscellaneous incident without known complainants which subsequently results in complaint identification will require a report if it would normally require one.
C. Crimes Occurring OutsideTown Jurisdiction
1. Persons reporting misdemeanors shall be referred to the appropriate jurisdiction.
2. If a felony occurs, the officer will request that the PGPD Communications Division notify the appropriate jurisdiction.An Incident Report shall be submitted by the officer detailing the event and notification. The officer shall provide the CCN to the reporting person and tell him/her:
a. The report is for information purposes only; and
b. The reporting person should report the crime to the agency with jurisdiction as soon as possible.
D. Multiple Incidents/Victims - If it can be established that multiple incidents occurred at the same time and location and involved the same persons, the incident will be recorded on one report, with one CCN.
1. Additional victims and their losses shall be listed in the report narrative, e.g., numerous autos are vandalized at one time in a parking lot.
2. Exception: multiple stolen, attempted stolen or recovered autos require one CCN. However, list each vehicle on a separate form, using the same CCN, with only the T-Section (Top Section), vehicle section and reporting officer sections completed.
E. Multiple Victims/Suspects on Arrest Records - When persons have been arrested for multiple incident events, the following apply for arrest reports:
1. Multiple Victims/One Offender - Complete One Arrest Report with additional victims listed in the narrative.
2. Multiple Offenders/One Victim - Complete a separate Arrest Report for each defendant. Use the same CCN for each report. Use separate arrest number and I.D. number for each defendant.
F. Classifying Multiple Offenses
1. When a combination of offenses occurs in the same incident, the most serious offenses would be listed first. More than one offense may be listed on the report, e.g., Homicide/Robbery, Breaking & Entering/Auto Theft, etc. The classification of Part I Offenses in descending order of severity is as follows:
a. Homicideb. Rape
c. Robberyd. Assault
e. Breaking & Entering f. Theft
g. Auto Thefth. Arson
2. Purse snatch - The theft of a billfold, purse or similar item from a person shall be classified as a Theft (PBS) if the victim offers no resistance. If there is resistance and physical force is used or threatened the incident is a Robbery.
3. Theft from Auto - Personal articles stolen from a vehicle shall be classified as Theft (From Auto Non-Accessory), i.e., cameras, suitcases, apparel, packages, etc. A vehicle’s parts taken from anywhere on or in the vehicle is classified as Theft (From Auto-Accessory), i.e., motors, transmission, hub caps, radio, tape players, license plates, radio antennas, side view mirrors, gasoline, etc.
4. License Plate Thefts - If one license plate is missing from a vehicle the officer shall examine the circumstances and classify the incident as Lost Property, or Theft (From Auto-Accessory). Two missing plates shall be classified as Theft (From Auto-Accessory).
a. The officer will tell the reporting person that it is necessary for the owner to respond to the DMVA (or appropriate vehicle licensing authority for vehicle registered in another state) and obtain replacement plates.
b. The reporting person will be given the CCN.
c. This information will be noted in the report narrative.
End of Document
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