00-004 Deputy's Daily Worksheet and Logging Public Contacts
DEPUTY’S DAILY WORKSHEET AND LOGGING PUBLIC CONTACTS
BACKGROUND
As a public law enforcement agency, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is obligated to create comprehensive records of its internal processes and the activities of its field personnel. In so far as field activity is concerned, the reason for compiling complete data is twofold:
- The Department is required to maintain records of all public contacts, including who was contacted and the disposition of those contacts.
- A complete record of activities will greatly assist when it is necessary to justify a request for additional field personnel based on workload.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this Directive is to define policy and procedure for logging public contacts on the Deputy’s Daily Work Sheet (DDWS) through the Mobile Digital Communications System (MDCS).
POLICY AND PROCEDURES
Creation of MDCS Deputy’s Daily Work Sheet
It is the policy of the Field Operations Regions and the Community Oriented Policing Services Bureau, that all individual field units performing regular field law enforcement duties, shall create a DDWS through the MDCS Computer-Aided Dispatch system.
For the purposes of this Directive, “regular field law enforcement duties” are defined as responding to calls for service, conducting traffic and pedestrian stops for enforcement/investigatory purposes, and assisting members of the public.
Units included in this classification include, but are not limited to, general law patrol, traffic law patrol, motorcycle patrol, COPS teams, Special Assignment Officers, Gang Enforcement Team patrol units, Special Enforcement Bureau directed patrol units, bicycle patrol, foot patrol and beach patrol units, and associated field supervisors.
The requirement to create a DDWS extends to units not equipped with Mobile Digital Terminals (MDT). When a unit is not equipped with an MDT, the DDWS shall be created at the beginning of the shift via a station MDCS terminal.
Preparation and completion of the DDWS shall occur either during the course of the shift or prior to its conclusion.
Logging Field Activity
It is the policy of the Field Operations Regions and the Community Oriented Policing Services Bureau, that all significant public contacts and activity shall be appropriately logged on the MDCS DDWS.
For the purposes of this Directive, “significant public contacts and activity” are defined as:
- Calls for service.
- Self-initiated activity that results in arrest or citation.
- Self-initiated activity, which is enforcement/investigative in nature, but does not result in arrest or citation.
- Self-initiated activity which is not enforcement/investigative in nature, but results in Department personnel taking some form of constructive action, i.e., requesting a tow truck for a stranded motorist.
Each field incident shall be logged separately, with its own unique “Tag” number. (In the past, it has been standard practice to log multiple citations/traffic stops under a single tag number. This generally happened when the enforcement action occurred in the same place over a period of time. An example is a radar traffic unit working a specific location over a two-hour period and issuing multiple citations). Under the new policy as defined in this Directive, the practice of including multiple unconnected incidents under one “Tag” number, is no longer allowed.
Multiple activities resulting from the same incident, shall be logged under the same “Tag” number. As an example, deputies stop a vehicle containing a driver and two passengers, and issue separate citations to each. A single “Tag” would be created, listing all three persons in the appropriate manner.
On the other hand, if only the driver is issued a citation and the passengers are merely present in the vehicle, only the driver need be listed in the logged incident narrative. These concepts are equally applicable to pedestrian contacts.
The narrative portion of the logged incident shall include the name, sex, race, age/D.O.B. of the involved person, reason for the contact and a brief description of the action taken by deputies.
Newly Created Statistical Codes for Traffic and Pedestrian Stops
To allow more effective measurement of field activity, two new statistical codes have been created and shall be used by personnel when clearing field incidents on the DDWS:
- 840 Traffic Stop
- 841 Pedestrian Stop
The statistical codes 840 and/or 841 shall be used when field personnel effect traffic or pedestrian stops, based on probable cause, reasonable suspicion, or for other investigative purposes or to follow-up on leads from prior incidents. The codes shall be used when logging traffic or pedestrian stops which are associated with:
- Calls for service.
- Self-initiated activity that results in arrest or citation.
- Self-initiated activity, which is enforcement or investigative in nature, but does not result in arrest or citation.
These codes shall be used in addition to any other statistical code(s) used to classify the incident.
Example: Patrol personnel stop a vehicle for hazardous traffic violations and cite the driver. When clearing the incident on the MDT, the statistical code 840 (Traffic Stop), would be entered in addition to statistical code 720 (Hazardous Citation). An example of an appropriate clearance narrative is: “Cited John Doe M/W 10-31-47 re: 22350 C.V.C. and 21800 C.V.C.”
Example: Deputies on bicycle patrol detain several juveniles in a county park late at night. The juveniles are ultimately released without citation or arrest. In addition to clearing the incident with statistical code 716 (Suspicious Person), statistical code 841 (Pedestrian Stop), would be entered in the MDT clearance format. An example of an appropriate clearance narrative is: W/A Mary Smith F/W 6-29-84, Harry Chen M/C 2-18-85 and Felix Gomez M/H 4-26-84 re: loitering in county park after hours. Wilco.
Example: Deputies effect a traffic stop of a vehicle that matches the description of one used in a recently reported crime. When it is ultimately determined that the vehicle and occupant are not connected to the crime, they are released without citation or arrest. In addition to clearing the incident with statistical code 710 (Follow Up), statistical code 840 (Traffic Stop) would be entered in the MDT clearance format. An example of an appropriate clearance narrative is: Stopped John Washington M/B 8-27-78 in green 1991 Buick LeSabre Lic# 123ABC re: vehicle matching description of L.A.P.D. wanted 211 vehicle from previous day. Driver and vehicle ck’d OK.
Note: The MDT clearance format will only accept a total of five (5) statistical codes. If deputy personnel are clearing a traffic or pedestrian stop incident that requires more than five statistical codes, either 840 or 841 shall be one of them. The least significant code(s) shall be omitted from the clearance format to permit inclusion of the 840 or 841 codes.
Unit Commander Responsibilities
Unit commanders are responsible for developing and implementing training and review processes to ensure strict compliance with this Directive. Additionally, unit commanders are reminded of MPP Section 5-09/230.00, which states, among other things, “It shall be the unit commander’s responsibility to ensure that the Deputy’s Daily Work Sheet are reviewed in a timely manner, and any corrections made.”
Questions regarding this Directive may be referred to the Field Operations Support Services unit, at [REDACTED TEXT]