Policy Text
Page 1 of 5 General Order 06-30 – (03/13/2025 )
REQUESTING CR IMIN AL HISTORY RECORDS
RICHMOND POLICE DEPARTMENT
GENERAL ORDER
Subject: REQUESTING CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORDS
Chapter
6 Number
30 Pages
5
References:
CALEA Standards: 82.1.1a -c, 82.1.2a , 82.3.6
VA. Code 16.1 -301 Related Orders: Effective Date: 03/13/2025
Revised By : Review
Prv. Rev. Date: 07/30/2021
If any provision of this General Order conflicts with any collective bargaining article,
the collective bargaining agreement shall govern.
Chief of Police :
I. PURPOSE
The purpose of this general order is to estab lish the p rocedures for law enforcement
officers requesting criminal history records .
II. SUMMARY OF CHANGE
This general order has undergone a triannual review. Revisions were made to correct
grammar, style, and formatting. These revision s are not in bold or italici zed text.
III. POLICY
It is the policy of the Richmond Police Department to create an identification number
with a criminal history file for each person under custodial arrest . The files shall be
compatible with the requirements o f the Virginia Central Criminal Records Exch ange .
The Richmond Police Department: [CALEA 82.3.6 ]
A. Shall allow the criminal records system to be accessible 24 hours a day;
[CALEA 82.1.1b]
B. Will not disseminate information except as provi ded by law;
C. Shall prevent unauthorized access and release of information on juvenile
records ; and
D. Shall adhere to the V irginia State Record Retention Schedule 17 .
IV. ACCOUNTABILITY STATEMENT
All employees are expected to fu lly comply with the guidelines a nd timelines set f orth
in this general order. Failure to comply will result in appropriate corrective action.
Responsibility rests with the division co mmander to ensure that any violations of policy
are investigated and ap propriate training, counseling, and/or disciplinar y action is
initiated.
Page 2 of 5 General Order 06-30 – (03/13/2025 )
REQUESTING CR IMIN AL HISTORY RECORDS This directive is for internal us e only and does not enlarge an employee’s civil liability
in any way. It should not be construed as the creation of a higher standard of safety or
case in an evidentiary sense, wi th respect to thir d party claims. Violation of this
directive, if proven, ca n only form the basis of a complaint by this Department, and
then only in a non- judicial administrative setting .
V. PROCEDURE
A. Procedures for Requesting Criminal History Records
1. The Dep artment conducts the following types of criminal history records
requests:
a. Criminal investigations;
b. Employment que ries;
c. Domestic violence; and
d. Firearms permit.
2. The n ormal service hours for requesting criminal history record checks
at the Information Desk are 0800 hour s through 1600 hours , Monday
through Friday (excludes recogniz ed holidays). After normal service
hours, c riminal history record requests may also be submitted to
Information Desk personnel .
a. Requests made betwee n 0800 hours and 1000 hours wil l
normally be available for pick -up by 1600 hours on the day of
the requ est.
b. Whenever an emergency or an investigative criminal history
record are requested, they will be handled as priority items by the
Virginia Criminal Inf ormation Network (VCIN) certifi ed Central
Records personnel.
3. Officers shall always request criminal history records check for the
following reasons:
a. To verify other convictions of an arrestee;
b. To obtain informant background information; and
c. Before attendin g court, an officer shall obtain the most recent
criminal history record of the arrestee and have it in their
possession before the court date.
NOTE: No completed criminal history record request form will be
stored in case folders or files. Upon verificat ion of the request s,
the crim inal history request forms shall be destroyed.
Page 3 of 5 General Order 06-30 – (03/13/2025 )
REQUESTING CR IMIN AL HISTORY RECORDS 4. Emergency and magistrate requests for criminal history record checks :
a. VCIN -certified (Level A/B) Information Desk personnel will
normally process after -hours criminal his tory requests of an
urgent o r emergency nature or for officers’ presentation to the
magistrate(s) .
b. If a certified VCIN operator is unavailable or the system is
inoperative, the officer shall be directed to the Division of Emergency Communications , Preparedness and Response
(DEC PR) for processing the request (s). In such instances, the
Information Desk personnel will call DEC PR to verify why an
officer is being referred for assistance.
5. Non-urgent requests for criminal history records checks .
All non- urgent criminal history record requests received after n ormal
working hours will be forwarded to the Records Secti on by the
Information Desk personnel for processing at 0800 hours of the following workday.
NOTE: If an arrestee is carrying a firearm, arrested for shoplifting, or if
the situation involves a dom estic assault, officers may also
obtain criminal