Deferred Report Procedures

FROM:    PATRICK E. MAXWELL, CAPTAIN          TO:    ALL PERSONNEL                                                                            NORWALK STATION                                         NORWALK STATION

SUBJECT:    UNIT MANAGEMENT DIRECTIVE #08-05

DEFERRED REPORTS

PURPOSE:

The purpose of this directive is to establish station procedures for the deferring of reports.  The directive will address the deferring of all criminal and traffic related reports.  The purpose of this document is to create a unit level policy for management of deferred reports.

POLICY:

Field Operations Directive 95-9, (Dated October 4th, 1995).

DIRECTIVE:

The following guidelines have been established for deferring reports. 

All report deferrals must be approved by the Watch Sergeant.  The following criteria will apply to any deferred reports/late arrests.  A report may be deferred when:

• There is no workable information
• Misdemeanor field release
• Misdemeanor non-desirous
• Felony, no workable information
• Traffic collisions with no injuries
• Traffic collisions with minor injuries and no follow-up
• Late arrest/in-custody reports may be deferred when a PCD has been completed and detectives are aware of incident and concur with deferral of the report.

Deputies should complete a deferred report by the end of shift, the next day.  If the deputy is not scheduled to work the next day, reconsideration for deferral will be necessary.  

The Watch Sergeant shall be notified prior to the end of the deputy’s shift that a report may have to be deferred.  The Watch Sergeant shall determine if any of the above criteria applies to the report in question.  Once the report is cleared for deferment, the deputy shall:

• Print the required information in the deferred report log and present it to the Watch Sergeant who will affix his/her name.
• Fill in the face page of the report, complete with file number, and write “DEFERRED” in the upper right corner.
• Copy this completed face page and retain the original for completion the following day.  The copy will be submitted to the Watch Sergeant for processing by the secretarial staff and shall be attached to the deferred log under appropriate shift for reference.
• Upon returning to work, notify the dispatcher that he/she has a deferred report to complete.
• Ensure that the deferred report is cleared from the deferred log.
• No report other than deferred traffic reports, shall be deferred longer than 24-hours.  The Watch Sergeant shall be notified by the deputy if there is a compelling, substantial reason the report cannot be completed on schedule.  The Watch Sergeant shall determine the proper course of action to ensure the completion of the report.

The deferring of reports is a time management issue.  Care should be taken to ensure that deferrals are made only in cases involving minimal workable information.  It shall be policy that deferrals are made only at the direction of the Watch Sergeant.  Watch Sergeants shall follow-up on all incomplete deferred log entries.

Reports should not be deferred if there is significant workable information, such as named suspect(s), license plate numbers enabling immediate follow-up, large amounts of physical evidence connecting someone to the crime, reports of high-value loss requiring a crime lab response, or reports requiring a Chief’s Memo.  Additionally, reports assigned to outside units, such as Arson, J.I.B., Forgery/Fraud, Narcotics, etc., shall not be deferred.  Any exceptions must be approved by the Watch Sergeant.

Reports which can reasonably be deferred are those with no workable information, i.e., “who done it” burglaries or vandalism by unknown suspects, or (on Friday or Saturday only) misdemeanor reports in which the suspect is known and/or has been issued a citation.

It has been common practice to self-defer traffic reports for extended periods of time.  Due to recent changes in policy regarding the handling of traffic investigations, the following guidelines must be adhered to:

1. Traffic reports shall be deferred only if there is no workable information, no injuries or with minor injuries and the investigation is completed.
2. If a hit and run vehicle is impounded, or if there is workable information regarding a hit and run, the report shall not be deferred.
3. Traffic reports involving felony D.U.I.’s and/or fatal collisions shall not be deferred.
4. There is no “self-deferring” of traffic reports.  The deferring of all reports, including traffic reports, must be approved by the Watch Sergeant.
5. URN’s will be drawn at the time the report is taken.  Issuing tag numbers to people and later drawing an URN in an effort to prolong the deferral process, will not be tolerated.
6. Deferred traffic reports shall be completed and turned in no later that three (3) working days after the incident, i.e., deferred on Monday, turned in completed on Thursday.

PEM:SJM:sjm