PURPOSE:
The purpose of this station order is to establish procedures regarding vice intelligence gatherings.
SCOPE:
This order applies to all field personnel.
ORDER:
The West Hollywood Station's Special Problems Unit (SPU) Sergeant will be tasked as the quality control reviewer of prostitution/vice intelligence gathering including the taking of noncustodial photographs. and approve by signature any FIRs and other records filed as to content and documentation of "legal standing" for the contact and information retention.
Department of Justice criminal intelligence files guidelines recommends a 5-year purge for"permanent" files and I year purge for "temporary" files. Permanent records are generally for actual criminal activities and temporary records are for suspected criminal activities. The Special Problems Unit will adopt the DOJ guidelines. The SPU "Loitering Admonishment" form has two categories, "admitted" and "suspected" which will lend itself to differentiating between permanent and temporary classifications to facilitate purge dates.
Vice activities are specifically mentioned in the DOJ guidelines as a proper category for intelligence gathering. Purges of intelligence files are DOJ recommendations only and not mandated by statute or case law.
The information retained by SPU shall not be drawn from 3rd party sources but only from reliable and overt law enforcement contacts and arrest reports. Arrest records and photos are official public records and may be maintained indefinitely. However, the mixing of public arrest records. arrest reports, RAPS, booking photos, etc. with intelligence files may expose all the files to public information release requests. The SPU will separate intelligence information from public arrest records etc. in order to help keep the intelligence files confidential.