97-07 DUE DILIGENCE

Unit Order:  97-07

Subject:       DUE DILIGENCE

PURPOSE

This Unit Order will outline the due diligence procedures that shall be adhered to by all TRAP personnel.

GUIDELINES

When an investigator files a case with the court clerk at a Superior Court, he or she shall submit, with the filing package, a County Wide Warrant System Initial Case Filing Form.  The investigator must fill the form out completely, especially the LEA section.  LEA is the acronym for Law Enforcement Agency, and it contains the investigator’s bureau’s consolidated booking (AJIS) arresting code.  TRAP’s LEA number is 3800.

The investigator should also advise the court clerk that the case being filed is a “Headquarters Detective” case and not a local station filing.  Many times, a court clerk will assume that the filing is a station filing and upon entering the warrant information into their computer system, they will enter the local station LEA number and not the proper headquarters LEA number.

If the case goes to a warrant or was originally filed as an arrest warrant, it is the investigator’s responsibility to make every effort to notify and/or arrest the suspect.  An attempt must be made every 90 days to satisfy due diligence.  This can be done by attempting to arrest the suspect or by mailing a letter to the suspect’s residence. 

Upon each attempt, the investigator will complete the TRAP “Due Diligence Form” (See attached) which will be submitted to headquarters for entry into the warrant/due diligence section in JDIC (WANT 5).  NOTE:  If after all possible leads have been checked and the investigator is unable to locate the suspect and has no new leads, the investigator may mark “leads exhausted” on the “Due Diligence Form.”

Records and Identification Bureau will also send out a monthly due diligence list to each bureau regarding suspect notification.  TRAP headquarters will initiate a “Due Diligence Form” (See attached) which will be given to the respective team supervisor.  The team supervisor will ensure the handling investigator makes an attempt to locate/ arrest the suspect(s) and submit the completed “Due Diligence Form” to TRAP headquarters within 30 days.

Afterwards, the investigator will make a copy of the “Due Diligence Form” which will be placed in their case file in order to successfully defend against any court challenges.

                                                                                            ________________________________           

                                                                                            MARTIN L. RODRIGUEZ, CAPTAIN

PROJECT DIRECTOR