gf-4, office reports

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MARICOPA COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE

Policy & Procedure Joseph M. Arpaio Sheriff

Subject

OFFICE REPORTS

Policy Number

GF-4Effective Date

03-24-06Related Information Supersedes

GF-4 (10-09-92)

PURPOSE

This Policy establishes procedures regarding the recording, reviewing, and distribution of reported incidents.

POLICY

The Office establishes guidelines to ensure the proper collecting, processing, and reporting of comprehensive

information into standardized formats to ensure that the Office is in compliance with all applicable laws, rules,

and regulations.

DEFINITIONS

None

PROCEDURES

1. Submission of Written Reports: Office personnel will complete appropriate Office forms and reports in

an accurate, concise, and thorough manner. All written reports will be submitted in a timely manner, and

will be neat and legible. Reports will be typed or written in black ink. All official reports shall include thelegible name and serial number of the individual writing the report.

A. Incident Reports (IRs), Disciplinary Action Reports (DARs), Arrest/Booking Records, and traffic

citations shall be completed in accordance with office report writing guidelines.

B. Traffic Accident Reports shall be completed to comply with the State of Arizona Traffic AccidentReport Instructional Manual and Glossary.

2. Common Types of Written Reports: Written reports include, but are not limited to, the following:

A. Arrest/Booking Records.

B. DARs.

C. Deputys Individual Activity Sheets.

D. IRs and supplements.

E. Field Interview Cards.


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F. Property Invoices.

G. Traffic Accident Reports.

H. Traffic or Criminal Citations.

I. Warning and Repair Orders.

J. Warrant or Civil Worksheets.

3. Situations Requiring a Written Report: A written report will be initiated, or supplemented, when one or

more of the following activities or actions occur:

A. A crime is reported.

B. A complaint is made which necessitates action being taken by law enforcement personnel.Complaints which involve employee misconduct shall be handled in accordance with Policy GH-2,

Internal Investigations.

C. A detective, or other employee, is assigned follow-up investigative responsibilities, or is required totake some action at a later time.

D. An officer determines that circumstances warrant a report being initiated after a request for

assistance.

E. An officer observes an activity which requires that a record be initiated and maintained for future

use or reference.

F. When an arrest is made without a warrant, or a criminal citation is issued.

G. Whenever a record is necessary for the transfer of information concerning the management,

administration, or internal operations of the Office.

4. Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) System: The CAD system is capable of providing the Office with avariety of information, including, but not limited to, the following:

A. An IR number, generated by the CAD system, which shall be assigned upon the request of an

employee. This computer generation ensures that all cases receive a unique, sequential number.

B. A call (complaint) control number, generated by the CAD system, which shall be used to identify

and record each incident including, but not limited to calls for service, officer on-view activity,

incidents adjudicated or referred to other agencies by Communications, and IRs taken by telephone.This number will serve as the basis for filing and retrieving subsequent reports of the incident,

thereby providing a means for auditing the system.

C. A separate and unique report numbering system can be used to identify each agency and each case

number for other law enforcement agencies dispatched by Communications. This number system is

also generated by the CAD system.

D. The CAD system automatically records and logs statistical information including, but not limited to,

indexes of incidents by location and type. Management reports, as well as officer activity and

incident history, can be obtained from the CAD system upon request.

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Effective Date 03-24-06

5. Requirements for All Written Reports: All reports initiated by employees or volunteers associated with

the Office shall contain, if applicable, the following information:

A. The date and time of the initial reporting.

B. The names, home and business addresses, and telephone numbers of individuals requesting theservice, reporting the incident, or being a party to the incident. This information should also include

dates of birth, drivers license numbers, social security numbers, and distinguishable physical

characteristics.

C. The nature of the service request or incident reported.

D. The date, time, and nature of the action taken, and the disposition assigned by the employee taking

the information.

E. Although Communications records much of the aforementioned information into the CAD system,this information is basic to any report writing endeavor, and shall be recorded on all applicable

reports.

F. Any report referred to the Juvenile Court Center for prosecution, or incarceration, will have attacheda notarized affidavit attesting to the reports truthfulness. The affidavit will be signed by the officer

who wrote the report, or has personal knowledge of the investigation. A liaison officer cannot be

used.

6. Written Instruction for Completion of Reports: Office report forms used to record criminal or non-

criminal activity, and procedures to be followed in completing these forms, are outlined in office report

writing guidelines and Office Policy. Employees should consult with supervisory personnel when a question

arises concerning the use of special forms that deal with special circumstances, such as personnel grievance

procedures, or on-the-job accidents.

7. Supervisory Review: All reports initiated by Office employees or volunteers which are used to record

incidents of crime, suspected criminal activity, traffic-related offenses or accidents, or other reportable

activity, shall be reviewed by supervisory personnel. Supervisors reviewing an Office report will ensure the

following:

A. Reports are submitted in a timely manner and reviewed for accuracy, completeness, and clarity.

B. Reports found to be substandard, or containing numerous spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, orother major deficiencies are rejected, and personnel found to be lacking in report writing skills are

provided with the necessary guidance or training.

C. Supervisors shall legibly sign or print their name, rank, and serial number to the report indicatingthat they have reviewed and approved the report.

8. Further Review: The supervisor reviewing and approving a case report, or his designee, will forward a

photocopy of the report to the appropriate district or division detective supervisor who will also review the

report.

A. Should the report contain inaccuracies as to procedural format, such as, a wrong criminal computer

code, the appropriate corrections shall be made, and the information routed back to the first

reviewing supervisor and reporting officer for training purposes.

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B. When possible, corrections will be made in the original report prior to it being sent to the

Departmental Report (DR) Section of the Records and AFIS Division. In any event, corrections to

inaccurate reports shall be made on original reports as soon as possible. Such corrections may bemade by preparing a supplement.

C. After review by the detective supervisor, a determination will be made on assignment of the case for

required follow-up. If the case is not assigned for follow-up, the detective assigned investigativeresponsibility for the area where the crime occurred, including other detectives having a probable

interest in the case, will be provided a photocopy of the report. Appropriate sections will also

maintain copies of case reports for reference and review at a later date.

D. Supervisors shall ensure that Traffic Accident Reports are reviewed, and contain all the necessary

information required by the State of Arizona Traffic Accident Report Instructional Manual and

Glossary. In addition to first level supervisor review, hit and run accidents will be reviewed by an

accident investigator for follow-up investigation.

9. IR Distribution: Employees who initiate IRs shall pay particular attention to the row of blocks located onthe upper portion of the IR form which indicates the case status of the report. This case status determines

which Office components shall receive a copy of the report.

A. Reviewing supervisors may also determine whether a report shall be forwarded to a particular areahaving an interest in, or an investigative responsibility for, the case.

B. District or section administrative personnel will normally be responsible for photocopying reports,

and the correct routing of reports.

C. The release of reports or records to individuals or agencies, whether they are active participants

within the Criminal Justice System or otherwise, is governed by strict Federal Regulations under

Title 28 of the United States Code. Policy GF-3, Criminal History Record Information and Public

Records, outlines the provisions under which records and reports can be released.

D. Release of records or reports to the media will be authorized only through the Public Information

Officers (PIOs) Office, and shall follow Policy regarding the release of Criminal History Record

Information (CHRI) and case report information.

10. Internal Affairs Auditing: An annual evaluation of the complaint recording and field reporting process

will be conducted by the Inspections Section of the Internal Affairs Division, who will audit the process to

ensure that all Office components are complying with Policy.

11. IR Tracking: Tracking of IRs may be divided into two distinct areas: investigative status and IR

maintenance.

A. An IR is in an investigative status after the report has been reviewed by a detective supervisor forprioritization and solvability, and assigned an administrative case status. The reports are then

assigned by the detective supervisor to the appropriate investigator. Reports not assigned to a

detective shall be given an administrative designation of suspended/inactive.

1. The assigned detective will update the case status within the time limits prescribed in Policy

GJ-6, Criminal Investigations Organization and Administration.

2. If the case report was forwarded to the County Attorney for prosecution consideration, the

case file shall be maintained in a pending/open status. Upon return of the case from the

County Attorneys Office, the case will be assigned an administrative case status, in

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accordance with the County Attorneys disposition, such as turndown, further, or complaint

issued.

3. A supplement shall be written indicating the County Attorneys disposition of the case.

The supplement will be included as a portion of the case file and maintained in the DR

Section. The supplement will serve as a written record of the County Attorneys

disposition.

4. Each detective component shall maintain a log of all cases submitted to the County

Attorneys Office for disposition.

5. Regardless of assigned administrative case status, additional follow-up may be conducted,

and supplements may be written at any time.

B. All IRs and supplements shall be maintained in the following manner:

1. All original IRs and supplements shall be forwarded to the DR Section within 10 calendardays of completion. The DR Section will ensure that written reports are received for all

issued IR numbers. On a monthly basis, the DR Section will distribute a list of missing IRsto all appropriate commanders.

2. Copies of IRs, traffic accident reports, and booking documentation shall be kept within an

operational component for a minimum of six months. Law enforcement copies of citations

shall be retained in the individual unit or district file for a period of at least one year. Each

component commander may establish a longer retention period, if he deems it necessary,

but not to exceed that which is allowed by the State of Arizona Records Retention and

Disposition Schedule.

3. All originals and copies of case files will be maintained in a secure manner, with access

limited to authorized persons.

4. IRs will be purged, and when appropriate, destroyed, in accordance with Office retention

schedules maintained by the Records and AFIS Division. Before destruction, original IRs

shall be microfilmed. IR file copies maintained at the division, section, or unit level will be

purged by supervised shredding or burning at the discretion of the component commander,but in no case shall fewer than six months records be retained. Investigators may retain

their case files, in a secure manner, for as long as necessary.

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