Policy Text
Field and Investigative Services Page 1 of 4 5/14 ( REV 1/19) Deleted: NEW
Reported Crimes Video Evidence Procedures
The purpose of this Order is to establish policy and guidelines for collection and
handling of video (or photographi c) evidence related to reporte d crimes requiring follow
up by the Centralized Investigations Division.
I. Policy Statement
A. It shall be the policy of this agency to route all video or photographic
evidence related to reported cr imes to the Centralized Investig ations
Division for viewing by investi gators prior to the evidence bei ng booked at
the Property Warehouse with t he following exceptions:
1. In cases where a suspect has been arrested the evidence may be
needed by the District Attorney’s Office AND no further investigation is required. In s uch instances, t he evidence sha ll be
booked as evidence at the Proper ty Warehouse in accordance to
established procedures.
2. In cases where t he primary charge dic tates the case be
investigated by a detective not assigned to Centralized
Investigations Division.
3. In cases involving suspect ed child pornography or obscene ma tter
as defined in California Penal Code Section 311.4. In such
instances contact shall be made with a member of the Internet
Crimes against Children (ICAC) team or the Hi-Tech Crimes
Bureau supervisor to determine the proper course of action for
media or matter containing susp ected evidence. This evidence
shall never be booked, copied, photographed, emailed, scanned,
forwarded, etc., without direct authorization by a member of th e
ICAC team.
B. The protocols in this Order a re intended to create a system where
investigators from the Centraliz ed Investigations Division have the
opportunity to view the large am ount of video evidence availabl e in
relation to reported crimes in order to develop leads, identify criminals and
solve cases. It is also the intent of this Order to increase t he amount of
video evidence collected from the field.
Field and Investigative Services Page 2 of 4 5/14 ( REV 1/19) Deleted: NEW 1. It shall be the responsibilit y of the Centralized Investigat ions
Division to view collected vi deo/photographic evidence, documen t
observations, and when appropria te attach images to the report in
the Records Management System ( RMS) and publish images to
department members, allied agenc ies and the public for possible
identification and appr ehension of suspects.
2. In cases subsequently solved , the Centralized Investigations
Division will book the evidence at the Property Warehouse to be
available for requests from the District Attorney’s Office of c opies
for subsequent prosecution.
3. Evidence in unsolved case s shall be booked by the assigned
detective at the Property Warehouse.
II. Immediately Available Media Evidence
A. When video or photographic evidenc e is immediately available to an
officer taking a crime report, t he reporting officer shall:
1. Collect the evidence from t he victim or witness and document it in
the report.
2. Place the evidence in an evidence envelope and attach a prop erty
receipt with the report number and accurate description of the
contents, in accordance wi th General Order 16/16.
3. Place the evidence in the “Video Box” loc ated in each patrol
stationhouse or deliver to the Centralized In vestigations Divis ion.
4. The viewing of the video evi dence will not be automatic. If further
investigation includ es viewing of the video evidence, the statu ses
should be set to “Investigation” a nd “Active” and the report sh all
indicate the desired fu rther investigation.
5. In cases where the reporting officer has arrested a suspect, but still
desires further investigation re lated to the media evidence (i. e.
other unidentified suspect( s) not apprehended), the reporting o fficer
shall not book the evidence in to the Property Warehouse and
instead route it to t he Centralized Investigations Division as
described above. The reporting o fficer shall also set the AFR
statuses to “Investigation” and “Cleared by Arrest” and indicat e the
desired further investi gation in the report.
III. Known Media Evidence Not Immediately Available
Field and Investigative Services Page 3 of 4 5/14 ( REV 1/19) Deleted: NEW A. If video or photographic evidenc e is not immediately availab le to the
reporting officer becaus e a victim or witness needs time or ass istance in
making a copy of the evidence, t he victim or wit ness shall be i nstructed to
deliver or mail the evidence to t he Centralized Investigations Division at
4510 Orange Grove Avenue, S acramento, CA 95841.
B. The victim or witness shall be instructed to write the crime report number,
victim name and location of the cr ime on the evidence prior to delivering it
or mailing it to the Centraliz ed Investigations Division.
C. Cards with written instruct ions for the delivery of media ev idence to be
given to victims or witnesses o f reported crimes will be made a vailable in
patrol stationhouse equipment rooms.
D. The viewing of the evidence wi ll be automatic. Therefore, t he AFR status
of cases in which no further inv estigation other than the viewi ng of the
evidence is required shall be set as “Pended” and “Pended Case” .