Thorough preliminary investigations and accurate documentation of findings will be conducted by the deputy taking the first report.
When all elements of a crime exist, Department members shall not dissuade a victim from filing a report, and a first report shall be taken. Failure to complete a report under these circumstances may subject the Department member to administrative action, which may include training, documentation (Performance Log Entry [PLE] etc.), or an administrative investigation.
The handling deputy shall seek all information available about a crime and follow‑up on leads as circumstances permit. The detailed findings of the investigation shall be included in the narrative of the first report.
Screening factors are printed and numbered (1 through 6) on the reverse of the SH‑R‑49. This section shall be completed for any case assignable to the station detectives. If any of the six factors are checked and substantiated in the narrative, the deputy shall mark the case active. These factors must be evaluated as to their potential for further investigation when deciding to mark a case active or pending.
The narrative must include pertinent information regarding the investigation conducted and substantiate the deputy's recommendation to make the case active or pending. In rare instances where it is impossible to complete the preliminary investigation, that fact will be noted in the narrative, and the factors which were not included in the preliminary investigation should not be checked. In these incidents factor six will be marked "yes," and the case will be classified as active.