Law Enforcement Organization and Administration

Chapter 11

Auxiliary Functions• Auxiliary services provide the “behind the

scenes” support for the police organization.• Major auxiliary functions– Communications– Records – Property management– Building maintenance– Licensing– Crime lab– Ancillary public safety functions

COMMUNICATIONS

• The efficiency and effectiveness of daily police operations depend on the nature of communications unit maintained by the department. This unit must be able to provide:– Emergency and non emergency telephone

answering– Base to field communications by radio– Retrieval of information related to wanted

individuals

– Retrieval of information related to lost property, vehicle ownership, and motorist (DMV) information.

– Interface with or scanning of area and statewide police agencies

– Interface with or scanning of area fire and ambulance services

Consolidation

• In an effort to solve communications inferiority, some police agencies have pooled resources and formed a centralized communications center known as a mobile radio district

Northern Virginia

• In Northern Virginia all major government localities have consolidate police and fire dispatch into one office. – In Prince William County the Public Safety

Communications Center is under the joint supervisors on the Police Chief and Chief of Fire and Rescue

– Fairfax County and the City of Alexandria are moving their centers to stand alone agencies answering directly to the chief administrative officer of the jurisdiction.

• After 9/11 the federal government mandated changes in the way in which jurisdictions work with each other on mutual aid. One of those mandates was to no longer use ten codes when communicating. Today all area jurisdictions no longer use ten codes, but talk in plain language.

Communications Personnel

• Should be familiar with all aspects of police (and if a combined center fire) operations

• Must have ability to screen calls and resolve minor issues over the phone

• Must be a ambassador of the department • Well trained civilians are an asset– Need to have personal qualities of: tact,

politeness, coolness, rational decision making and the ability to multi task

• Departments should never assign someone to communications as a result of disciplinary action

• It has become the norm for police departments to no longer use sworn police officers in communications.

• In Virginia, communications personnel must past state certification test in a variety of job related areas.

• Because of computer aided dispatch systems, typing ability is a must

RECORDS MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

• Police Departments are bureaucracies and complex organizations. The efficient recording and flow of paperwork are essential to the successful operation of the department.

RECORDS CATEGORIES

• People – arrestees, complaints, victims, fingerprints

• Motor Vehicles – accidents, moving violations, parking tickets, etc

• Administration – Personnel, payroll, budget, purchasing, inventories, fleet maintenance

• Crime Statistics – Arrest and crime reports by legal stature, area, race, etc.

• Property - Lost, found, stolen

• Other – Jail, court dispositions, bail monies, and referral services.

• In Virginia, jails are run by the Sheriff’s Department or by a regional authority– In Prince William County, the City of Manassas

and Prince William County have regional jail run by a jail board. City of Manassas Park contracts with the detention center for services

– Fairfax, Arlington, Arlington, Loudoun and the City of Alexandria have jails run by the Sheriff’s Department

• In Virginia, court dispositions are handled by the state court system

• Bail bonding process is handled by private entrepreneurs

Computerization

• Positive attributes of computerization– Lower routine operating cost– Faster availability of information– Auditing function– Generation of new information– Greater consistency of reporting data– Development of giant data inventory– Greater freedom from mundane, routine record

keeping

Record Storage• There is an increasing need to find means and

methods of storing volumes of data and records in a safe environment and available for immediate retrieval– Paper storage must go– Confidentiality and integrity of records needs to be

maintained– Security of personal information is critical– Privacy Act restricted collection, maintenance

and distribution of personal information in public and private agencies

– Freedom of Information Act allows citizens access to some records

Property Control

• Inventory control of physical property

• Evidence control of court cases

• Found property

Vehicle Maintenance

• Vehicle cost take major portion of the agency budget

• Average cost of complete police package may average well over $40,000.00.

• Preventive maintenance programs as must

Temporary Detention Facilities

• Temporary detention facilities are often called lockups. Most are located in sub stations and used to process prisoners awaiting bail or transfer to main jail. Temporary facilities can cause a variety of problems.

• Commission on Accreditation (CALEA) and the Virginia Law Enforcement Professional Standards Commission have mandatory standards regarding temporary facilities.

Licensing

• Many police departments serve as the licensing bureau for various public related activities– Examples for Prince William County are licensing

of taxi drives and tow truck drivers.

CRIME LAB

• Crime Laboratory management has become a specialized function based on advances in forensic science and crime technology.

• Typical functional subdivisions of a normal laboratory– Arson– Chemistry– Documents– Firearms– Hairs and fibers– Serology– Criminalistics– Field Teams

Virginia Labs

• The Commonwealth of Virginia operates four forensic science labs throughout the state. All major police departments in Virginia have forensic science units. Crime scene analyst collect evidence and so some evaluation, depending on expertise, but all evidence is sent to the state lab for analysis.

Virginia Labs

• In Virginia, all major police departments have forensic science units. Evidence Technicians (Crime Scene Analyst) collect evidence and so some evaluation, depending on expertise. Once the evidence is collected it is sent .

• The state lab for Northern Virginia is located in Prince William County, near George Mason University

Evidence Technicians Role• Determine items of evidentiary value• Proficient in photography• Collect trace evidence• Recover firearm evidence• Packaging evidence• Recover latent fingerprints• Examine bodies for foreign material• Prepare crime scene sketch• Prepare reports and maintain chain of custody for

evidence• Give expert testimony in court

Computerized Fingerprints

• Integrated Automatic Fingerprint Identification Systems (IAFIS)

• Has made it possible to match suspect and fingerprints in a matter of minutes

Computer Crime Investigation Unit• Computer crime is

becoming a major problem in the United States. There are several computer crime categories.– Theft of money, services,

goods and identity– Destruction of data– Child pornography– Sale of illegal goods– Invasion of privacy

• All major police departments in Northern Virginia now have stand alone Computer Crimes Units

• Detectives must be certified in computer forensic analysis