Boca Raton Police Services Department Records PDF

BOCA RATON POLICE SERVICES DEPARTMENT Departmental Standards Directive 82.100 RECORDS Revised: June 30, 2020 I. PURPOSE: The purpose of this departmental standards directive is to provide information and guidelines related to records of the Boca Raton Police Services Department. II. POLICY: It...

BOCA RATON POLICE SERVICES DEPARTMENT Departmental Standards Directive 82.100 RECORDS Revised: June 30, 2020 I. PURPOSE: The purpose of this departmental standards directive is to provide information and guidelines related to records of the Boca Raton Police Services Department. II. POLICY: It shall be the policy of the Department to store and process various records relating to the functions and operation of the Department. Records Section employees shall be responsible for the management of Department records and the release of some information, if applicable, in accordance with all City, State, and Federal guidelines. III. DEFINITIONS: Incident-by-Type Index: A listing that allows a user to index a certain type of activity by an offense code. Location Index: A listing that allows a user to index a location and receive a listing of all cases that have occurred at that location. Master Name Index: A listing of every individual whose name has been recorded in the Records Management System (RMS). Name Candidating: A process by which records clerks create a master name index of individuals who are included in the RMS. The names are verified for correct spelling and identification information and then compared against other entries in the master name index. IV. PROCEDURE: A. ADMINISTRATION: 1. FUNCTIONS: 26.01 a. Every report shall be reviewed and approved by the employee’s supervisor. b. Reports are assigned for follow-up investigation in the RMS system to appropriate employees by supervisors. Effective: May 1, 1982 Revised: June 30, 2020 Records Directive No. 82.100 Page 1 of 7 c. Records clerks will be responsible for the name candidating in the RMS master name index. d. Handwritten and other paper documents submitted to the Records Section will be scanned into the electronic RMS to be included as part of the electronic police report. All scanned documents will then be verified by records clerks for accuracy and destroyed. e. Police reports are reviewed daily and coded by records clerks into predetermined categories for reporting purposes, as specified by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI). FDLE and FBI reporting categories do not necessarily correspond with state statutes. 2. DISTRIBUTION AND AVAILABILITY OF RECORDS: a. Records clerks shall be responsible for the distribution of all reports, both internally and externally, in accordance with Department directives as well as state and federal laws. 26.02 b. Although the majority of records maintained by the Department are open to public inspection, various federal, state, and local regulations prohibit the divulging of certain records and information to the general public as referenced in the Public Records Guide for Law Enforcement Agencies. 26.02 i. Traffic crash reports subject to the restrictions specified in FSS 316.066 26.02 ii. Traffic crash reports are made available to involved insurance companies and individuals upon request. 26.02 c. Electronic reports are available in RMS for access and printing on demand by employees for official use only. Copies of Traffic Crash Reports will be forwarded to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV), the City Traffic Engineering Department, and the Palm Beach County Traffic Division. When the crash involves a City employee or City property, Risk Management will also receive a copy. 15.01, 26.01, 26.02, 26.05 d. Records clerks will be responsible for processing all Uniform Traffic Citations, to include voids, dismissals, and corrections. e. Reports will be made available to the media through the Public Information Office (PIO) and the guidelines of that office, according to Departmental Standards Directive 54.100 Public Information and Media Relations. 26.02 Effective: May 1, 1982 Revised: June 30, 2020 Records Directive No. 82.100 Page 2 of 7 3. TAKING OF PUBLIC RECORDS REQUESTS: 26.02 a. Any employee who receives a request from the public for a record shall acknowledge receipt of the request and promptly forward the request to the Records Section manager or his/her designee. b. Employees shall not turn away public records requests due to the format or the method in which the request was received. 4. PROCESSING OF PUBLIC RECORDS REQUESTS: a. A designated records supervisor shall be responsible for the release of all Department records to the public in accordance with Department directives, State statutes, and Federal laws. b. The records supervisor or his/her designee shall obtain copies of all requested material and obtain appropriate payment before dissemination. 5. STATUS OF FOLLOW-UP REPORTS: a. All follow-up investigations will be managed electronically using the RMS case management module for review and approval by a supervisor. b. Records clerks shall generate a Missing Report List to ensure that all reports are accounted for. Reminders will be sent to the employee responsible for completing the missing reports and to their supervisors. 6. PRIVACY AND SECURITY OF RECORDS: 15.01, 26.03 a. Florida Crime Information Center (FCIC)/National Crime Information Center (NCIC) Criminal Justice Information Systems (CJIS) records are handled in accordance with FDLE rules and regulations. The contents and release of a criminal history or arrest record shall be divulged only to an authorized individual, as provided by FDLE and Department procedures and redacted from reports when being released elsewhere. 26.03 b. Reports containing identifying deemed confidential pursuant to FSS Chapter 119 and Marsy’s Law and not subject to disclosure until all applicable personal information has been redacted. c. Prior to the release of records subject to a public records request, records clerks shall review the status of criminal cases that are the subject of a public records request to determine if any FSS Chapter 119 or Marsy’s Law exemptions apply. d. RMS has an electronic audit log that records designated employee actions within the system. 26.04 Effective: May 1, 1982 Revised: June 30, 2020 Records Directive No. 82.100 Page 3 of 7 e. Electronic records are backed up on a daily basis and stored in a secured, off-site, climate-controlled environment. 26.04 f. Retention of electronic records follows the same retention laws or regulations as paper documents. 26.04 g. Semi-annually, the network analyst or his/her designee performs an audit of the RMS and CAD system user profiles, access codes, and passwords which is submitted to the chief of police. To maintain system integrity, the monitoring of system messages for access violations is completed by the network analyst on a regular basis. 26.04 7. ACCESSING RECORDS SECTION: 15.01, 26.03 a. Employees are prohibited from entering the Records Section areas, unless the entry relates to the performance of their assigned duties. 8. DESTRUCTION, ALTERING OF RECORDS, AND DISCLOSURE : 26.04 a. No Department record shall be destroyed except as provided for by law. b. Employees shall not steal, alter, forge or tamper with any kind of police record, report, or citation. c. Employees shall not disclose or use information gained by reason of his or her official position for personal gain or benefit and/or personal gain or benefit of any other person. Duplicates of records obtained for criminal or any other process must be destroyed upon completion of official use by the requestor. 9. RETENTION OF RECORDS: a. The Department of State, Bureau of Archives and Records Management, General Records Schedule GS-2/GS1-SL as well as a Records Retention Schedule established for the City of Boca Raton controls retention and disposition of records within the Department. b. Rule 1B-24.003 (11) Florida Administrative Code requires agencies to document specific information regarding the disposition of scheduled records and attest to compliance with records disposition laws, rules and procedures. c. Each year a designated records supervisor, through the City Clerk’s Office, is required to submit a signed "Records Management Compliance Statement". The City Clerk of the City of Boca Raton completes and maintains the Records Management Compliance Statement citywide. d. Records clerks will be responsible for the disposition of all records/documents submitted by Department divisions/bureaus relating to Department activity. Effective: May 1, 1982 Revised: June 30, 2020 Records Directive No. 82.100 Page 4 of 7 10. SEAL/EXPUNGEMENT OF RECORDS: a. In accordance with Florida Statutes, defendants may, under certain circumstances, apply to the court for an expunction or sealing of their arrest record. b. Sealed criminal arrest records may be accessed by law enforcement personnel under limited circumstances authorized by the Florida Statutes. Any request for access to these records must be approved by the chief of police or his/her designee and handled in accordance with FDLE regulations. 11. COLLECTING FEES: a. Records clerks shall collect fees for all services rendered, as specified in the City’s user fee schedule. b. The procedure for receiving service fees and using the cash register are included in the Records Section Cash Register Training Manual. B. OPERATIONS: 1. MAINTENANCE AND STORAGE OF RECORDS: 26.01 a. The Records Section maintains all records generated by the Department for calls for service, incident reports, arrest reports, traffic crash reports, traffic citations and any case related documents. 2. INDEXING OF INCIDENTS: a. The Department uses an automated information system containing the following major indexes to assist in documentation of calls for service and easy access without the necessity of physical control of the actual written case file: 3. i. Master Name Index ii. Location Index iii. Incident-by-Type Index ARREST FILES: a. Prior to January 2004, Personal Identification Numbers (PIN) were assigned for arrested persons. b. The Department maintains electronic files on all persons arrested by the Department that are kept in sequential order by a numbering system that differs from that used for calls for service. Effective: May 1, 1982 Revised: June 30, 2020 Records Directive No. 82.100 Page 5 of 7 c. Juvenile records are maintained within the RMS and are readily identifiable from the adult records as any juvenile involvement report is highlighted and the records are marked “Juvenile”. d. Electronic records shall be updated after every arrest to include the most recent photograph and address of the person arrested. e. Every arrested person shall have an arrest report prepared to include the nature of the offense, state statute, arrest information and other probable cause information. 4. LOCKED CASES: a. On a quarterly basis, the records section manager or his/her designee shall review all locked cases in the RMS to determine if they should remain locked. 5. REPORTS OUTSIDE RECORDS SECTION: a. Certain types of reports maintained in other operational components of the Department outside Records are as follows: i. Juvenile arrests and criminal histories in which the juvenile is participating in the Juvenile First Offender (JFO) program are maintained by the Investigative Services Bureau (ISB) per Departmental Standards Directive 44.100 Juvenile Delinquency Prevention, Control and Commitment. ii. Intelligence and vice cases maintained by the Vice, Intelligence and Narcotics (VIN) Unit per Departmental Standards Directive 43.100 Vice, Intelligence, and Narcotics Unit (VIN). Retention of cases is directed by the General Retention Schedule, GS2. iii. Detectives in the ISB may maintain a copy of case files and reports until an investigation is completed; at which point the case files shall be forwarded to the Records Section. See Departmental Standards Directive 42.100 Investigative Services Bureau. iv. Open homicide case files are kept secured with the ISB section commander. 6. CRIME REPORTING GUIDELINES: a. See Standard Operating Procedure 82.20 Crime Reporting for the guidelines on submitting crime statistics. Effective: May 1, 1982 Revised: June 30, 2020 Records Directive No. 82.100 Page 6 of 7 7. STATE ATTORNEY'S OFFICE CASE DISPOSITION LETTERS: a. The disposition letters from the Office of the State Attorney, to include No File and Nolle Prosse, are distributed to the bureau secretaries to be distributed to the individual LEOs via their supervisors. i. The LEO reviews the letter for pertinent information and compliance. The LEO will document the disposition in a supplement report and forward the letter to the Records Section for inclusion to the file. ii. Copies of the letters, if applicable, are sent to the Property and Evidence Room for disposition of evidentiary items. iii. Cases that are dismissed or where prosecution is declined, due to mishandling or error on the LEO’s part are reviewed individually as per Departmental Standards Directive 05.100 Criminal Status. b. All records received from the Office of the State Attorney on the disposition of cases presented for prosecution shall be scanned to the case file in the RMS. Approved: Michele Miuccio Chief of Police Effective: May 1, 1982 Revised: June 30, 2020 Date: Records Directive No. 82.100 Page 7 of 7