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Procedure 4220Santa Ana Police Department Santa Ana PD Procedures Manual Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2020/05/05, All Rights Reserved. Published with permission by Santa Ana Police DepartmentPORTABLE DIGITAL RECORDING DEVICES - 1PORTABLE DIGITAL RECORDING DEVICES 4220.1 PURPOSE This procedure applies to the use of issued portable digital audio recorders by Department members. Nothing in this procedure shall apply to the use of body worn cameras. For information regarding the use of body worn cameras, refer to the Body Worn Cameras Policy, the Body Worn Camera Procedure or the Monthly-Randomized BWC Audits by Supervisors Procedure. 4220.2 BACKGROUND Portable digital recorders provide unbiased accounts of field contacts. Audio and video recordings have been successfully used to refute false allegations of misconduct. This is particularly useful when conversations between police personnel and the community are not witnessed by uninvolved parties. Recorders preserve statements of witnesses, victims, and offenders for criminal prosecution. Recordings can prove useful in capturing how and when members properly obtain consent to search, give Miranda admonishments and admissions or confessions by suspects, all of which can be extremely valuable in court. As with other issued equipment, these guidelines are established to ensure consistency and accountability. 4220.3 PROCEDURE It is the policy of the Department that personnel comply with the following conditions when using Department issued portable digital recorders while on duty: 1.Department owned recorder is provided to personnel to conduct official police business effectively and efficiently. 2.Each member will be issued a digital recorder upon request that will be added to his/ her equipment inventory and maintained in good working order. 3.Prior to using a digital recorder, members shall complete the required training course covering operation of the device, downloading procedures and retention of recorded content. 4.members shall properly preserve recorded content in accordance with this procedure and make it available to supervisors and other Department personnel as required. Dissemination of digital recordings shall be governed by Records Maintenance and Release Policy. 5.Any member that was issued a recorder but who no longer wishes to actively use the device shall return it to the Department as soon as possible. 6.Issued digital recorders may be revoked for non-use or misuse by Department personnel. 7.Supervisors conducting administrative investigations shall record all suspect and witness statements in accordance with the Personnel Complaints Policy. Santa Ana Police Department Santa Ana PD Procedures Manual PORTABLE DIGITAL RECORDING DEVICES Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2020/05/05, All Rights Reserved. Published with permission by Santa Ana Police DepartmentPORTABLE DIGITAL RECORDING DEVICES - 24220.4 ACTIVATION OF DIGITAL RECORDERS 1.Activation of the digital recorder is at the discretion of the user. A member may activate the recorder whenever he/she feels it is appropriate. Examples include: A.Recording contact with persons detained or arrested, or B.Obtainng witness statements or statements from offenders. 2.If the contact is interrupted (i.e. the member returns to the patrol unit to write a citation or conduct a warrant check) and there is no expectation of contact with the involved person(s), the recording may be stopped and restarted upon resuming contact. 3.Members shall record their name and the date and time either before each recording or following the recording. If practicable, members shall include the case number and/ or name of the person(s) recorded. 4.Members shall not use the recorder to covertly record other police personnel or personal communications that are not part of the member’s official police duties. Personnel shall follow applicable law regarding confidential conversations and recordings, and must comply with the Public Safety members’ Procedural Bill of Rights. 5.If at the time of the recording a member becomes aware the recording has evidentiary value, it will be processed as evidence and members shall include this information in the corresponding police report. 4220.5 PROCESS FOR DOWNLOADING AND RETENTION OF RECORDINGS Audio recordings should be stored using the Department’s Digital Imaging Management System (DIMS). This eliminates the necessity of copying audio files to CD-Rom and booking them into Evidence. DIMS also allows for storage of non-evidentiary recordings (i.e., member contact with citizens, traffic stops, etc.) 1.Only departmentally issued recorders may be used to download evidentiary audio recording or those with potential evidentiary value into the Department's DIMS. 2.Members must contact Forensic Services for profile usernames and passwords for DIMS. Usernames for evidence and administrative cases will be a separate profile from that used for non-evidentiary recordings i.e. traffic stops, etc. For simplicity, the username format will be “A[badge#]” for non-evidentiary recordings, and “P[badge#]” for evidence. 3.Personnel may download audio recordings to DIMS at any download station. 4.For evidentiary audio recordings, each file will be downloaded into a case number (either a CI or administrative case number) and will have an “a” after it differentiating it from photographic evidence, i.e. XX-XXXXXa. Non-evidentiary recordings shall be uploaded as “Audio(badge#), i.e. Audio 1247. 5.The digital recorder should be connected to the DIMS station using the supplied cable. 6.Stat DIMS. Santa Ana Police Department Santa Ana PD Procedures Manual PORTABLE DIGITAL RECORDING DEVICES Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2020/05/05, All Rights Reserved. Published with permission by Santa Ana Police DepartmentPORTABLE DIGITAL RECORDING