Reports that are not open for general distribution, may be marked confidential or limited distribution.
Confidential Reports
Confidential reports are those that have a restricted distribution. Confidential reports are not to be released to anyone without approval of the unit of assignment. To maintain a report as confidential, the original report shall be stamped confidential and the confidential box in the Los Angeles Regional Crime Information System (LARCIS) shall be checked. The following reports should be marked confidential:
Homicides;
Open criminal investigations involving county personnel;
Open criminal investigations of any law enforcement personnel;
Narcotic undercover operations where “buy” money is required; and
Reports related to Penal Code Sections 220, 236.1, 261, 261.5, 264, 264.1, 265, 266, 266a, 266b, 266c, 266e, 266f, 266j, 267, 269, 273a, 273d, 273.5, 285, 286, 287, 288, 288.2, 288.3, 288.4, 288.5, 288.7, 289, 422.6, 422.7, 422.75, 646.9, 647.6, or former sections 262 and 288a.
A watch commander may approve the marking of additional reports as confidential based on the totality of the circumstances presented at the time. The decision to mark a report as confidential shall always be guided by the goal of protecting the safety of the persons involved. The watch commander shall indicate the reasons for marking a report as confidential in the watch commander’s daily log.
Limited Distribution
Reports not to be released as public information due to their sensitive nature, e.g., child abuse cases, investigative reports, politically sensitive reports, etc., are not confidential reports. These reports fall under the parameters of Government Code sections 7922.540, 7923.600, 7923.605, 7923.610, 7923.615, 7923.620, and 7923.625 and should be stamped/identified "Limited Distribution."
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NOTE: |
Notwithstanding any other section of this manual or law, although the above-specified reports are stamped “Confidential,” it is only the victim’s name and address that are confidential. Therefore, these reports shall be processed in the normal manner by station clerical staff and the original is to be imaged. |
For additional information regarding confidentiality of these sex offense Penal Code sections, refer to Manual of Policy and Procedures section 5-09/350.00, Policy and Procedure for Sex-Related Crimes.
All confidential reports shall be frequently reviewed by the concerned unit commander, and upon concurrence, held at the unit of assignment until no longer considered confidential. These reports shall be processed in the normal manner with the original imaged into the Sheriff’s Electronic Criminal Documents Archive (SECDA).
The station/unit initiating a confidential report is responsible for making the necessary LARCIS entries after the report has been declassified and is no longer considered confidential.
Distribution of confidential reports will vary with the originating units.
Homicide Reports
In homicide cases, the incident report shall be faxed as soon as possible to Homicide Bureau and mailed to the coroner’s office. Both the incident report and supplementary reports on homicide cases are confidential.
The distribution of confidential homicide reports shall be made by Homicide Bureau. All copies, except for the station file, shall be forwarded directly to the Homicide Bureau.
Child Abuse/Felony Sexual Assault Reports
In Special Victims Bureau (SVB) cases, both the incident report and supplementary reports shall be stamped confidential by the approving watch sergeant.
All SVB approved reports and any copies (with the exception of the station copy) shall be forwarded directly to SVB via RightFax at 323-415-1638 or emailed to SVB-INTAKE by the inscribing deputy.
The station copy shall be retained at the station level and purged after one year.
All SVB reports SHALL NOT be scanned into SECDA.
The distribution of confidential SVB reports shall be made by SVB.
Questions regarding confidential SVB reports can be directed to SVB at 562-946-7960.