Policy Text
University of California, San Francisco
Police Department General Orders
4.15 Traffic Law Enforcement
4.15.7 Preparation of Citation/Report (Issued: 6/25/07)
A. Traffic citations and arrest reports form the basis for prosecution of traffic offenders.
B. Specific guidelines for citation and report preparation, processing and distribution are as
follow:
1. Traffic Citations
a. All citations shall be neatly and legibly printed or written using a black or
blue ball point pen.
b. All spaces requiring information shall be completed.
c. The court date shall be assigned according to court guidelines. The
appropriate copy is then served to the violator.
d. Officers shall write, in detail, a statement of the facts on the last page of
the citation or in their personal notebook. This statement of facts will
assist in any future court testimony.
e. Officers are responsible for the filing of the statement of facts in a manner
that will enable them to accurately describe the relevant facts that caused
the citation to be issued.
f. Officers shall compl ete a written Citation Protest report (incident report)
when summoned by the San Francisco Municipal Court. This report will
be submitted to the traffic court via the report routing procedures and a
copy forwarded to the Investigations Unit. The Citation P rotest report will
be reviewed by the traffic court judge in lieu of the officer’s presence.
2. Arrest Reports
Arrest reports shall be required, as outlined in General Order 8.5.11, “Recording
Arrest Information,” when physical arrest of a traffic violator has occurred. This
report, together with the citation and a booking sheet (if booked at the County
Jail) shall be submitted to the Records Department.