PURPOSE OF THE ORDER:
The purpose of this station order is to establish station procedures for the deferring of reports. The station order 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. Field Operations Directive 95-9, (Dated October 4th, 1995) is included in this station order. This station order also sets guidelines for disapproved reports.
ORDER:
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 or in-custody reports may be deferred when a PCD has been completed and detectives
are aware of the incident and concur that the deferral can take place.
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, complete the report and ensure the deferred report is cleared from the
deferred log.
No report other than deferred traffic reports, shall be deferred longer than 24-hours. Traffic report are given Three days maximum. 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, S.V.B., Forgery/Fraud, Narcotics, Homicide, etc., shall not be deferred. Any exceptions must be approved by the Watch Sergeant. CHP-180 and reports requiring a Juvenile Petition are not deferrable.
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) days after the incident, i.e., deferred on Monday, turned in complete on Thursday.
DISAPPROVED REPORTS:
Unless it is deferred, all corrections to a disapproved report are to be made before the concerned deputy leaves the station. If the Watch Sergeant must read a report after the concerned deputy has gone off duty, and the report requires correction, it is the said Sergeant's responsibility to fix the minor errors or disapprove the report by personally complying with all of the deferred report guidelines/restrictions. The deputy will fix the report the next scheduled day without delay.