Policy Text
University of California, San Francisco
Police Department General Orders
5.16 Organized Crime and Vice Control: Operations
5.16.3 Preliminary and Follow -up Investigations (Revised: 8/1/14)
A. Once a vice, narcotics or organized crime complaint is assigned for investigation, the
following procedure will be used:
1. Reliable information should be developed by reviewing the original complaint
and taking the necessary steps to verify the informati on. This may entail making
neighborhood contacts, contacting other agencies that might be familiar with the
person(s) or situations(s) and interviewing parties who might be privileged to
information.
2. Any evidence collected and submitted will be in accor dance with the General
Orders.
3. When it is deemed appropriate, surveillance techniques may be employed to
gather information.
B. During the preliminary investigation, the following criteria will be considered and used to
prioritize the investigation:
1. The validity and/or reliability of the original information
2. The type of criminal activity
3. The extent or magnitude of the activity.
4. The investigative resources required to conduct an investigation including:
a. Other sufficient Departmental resour ces
b. Possible operational problems existing
c. The existing workload of the Investigations Unit and available detectives.
C. Follow -up Investigations
1. Follow -up investigations should be conducted utilizing the procedures established
for preliminary investigations. By its very nature, follow -up investigation implies
information has already been developed. Nevertheless, detectives must continue
to verify and develop information until the investigation is determined to be
successfully comple ted or returned to file as pending or discontinued.
2. Detectives will report the progress and status of the investigation to the
Investigations Unit Lieutenant on a regular basis. Depending upon the nature of
the investigations, the Investigations Lieuten ant may be involved in the
investigation.
3. All information developed during the investigation will be recorded and submitted
to the Investigations Lieutenant for review and approval. Special cases will also
be reviewed by the FSD Captain .