The Honolulu Police Department maintains a
complete and accurate accounting of police
responses with a process and technology that
securely and efficiently manages police reports.
DEFINITIONS
A. Case report number: An eight-digit
number assigned by the Computer Aided Dispatch
System (CADS) to calls for police service.
B. Case Report System (CRS): An electronic
police report program that replaces the Automated
Field Reporting (AFR).
C. CADS: The computer aided dispatch portion
of the department’s CADS/Records Management System (RMS).
D. Paper Management(PM): The document imaging
system that stores images of official police reports and attachments.
E. RMS: The records management portion of the department’s CADS/AFR.
INITIATION OF POLICE REPORTS
A. Occurrences Observed by or Reported to On Duty Officers
An on duty officer shall prepare a numbered report
each time he or she receives a complaint or observes
a violation of law, motor vehicle collision, or unusual occurrence.
Unless otherwise authorized by a supervisor, officers
shall submit completed reports by the end of their
work shift. Exceptions authorized by supervisors
shall comply with other directives that govern the
timely submittal of reports. Lieutenants shall check
the report queue each day to ensure that reports are completed on time.
B. Occurrences Observed by or Reported to Off Duty Officers
An off duty officer shall report to the Communications
Division any occurrence that requires police attention.
1. The Communications Division shall dispatch an
on duty officer to investigate each case.
2. If necessary, the off duty officer shall submit
a report containing all relevant information about the case as soon as possible.
C. Information Received by Departmental Personnel
All personnel, officers and civilians alike, shall
report any information that comes to their attention
regarding violations of the law, motor vehicle
collisions, unusual occurrences, or investigations
in progress. The information shall be reported
through appropriate channels (i.e., to the
Communications Division or the individual’s superiors).
D. Police Officers as Victims or Suspects
Police officers shall not investigate police cases
in which they are the victims or suspects.
HANDLING OF COMPLAINTS
A. Telephonic Complaints
1. Local Calls
a. When a complaint is received by the
Communications Division, the individual taking
the complaint shall service the caller and enter
the complaint into the CADS for the dispatch of field units.
b. When a complaint is received by an
element of the department other than the
Communications Division, the individual
taking the call shall encourage the caller
to report the information directly to the
Communications Division. If the emergency
nature of the call or other circumstances
makes this impossible or impractical, the
individual taking the call or a supervisor
shall obtain the necessary information and
relay it to the Communications Division,
preferably by telephone. The Communications
Division shall service the call as outlined in section III A 1 a above.
2. Long Distance Calls
Complaints or requests for assistance shall be
handled in the following manner by the individual
taking the call or a supervisor.
a. Criminal Matters
(1) Routine
(a) In general, cases that involve criminal
activity in this jurisdiction shall be handled
as outlined in section III A l above.
(b) Cases that involve criminal activity in
another jurisdiction shall not be accepted.
Callers shall be referred to their local authorities
and informed that this department will take no action
without a formal request from another law enforcement agency.
(2) Emergency
In all emergency cases, the call shall be
referred to the appropriate element, which
shall determine the validity of the call and take appropriate action.
b. Noncriminal Matters
(1) Nonemergency requests (e.g., to forward
messages or run errands) shall not be accepted.
The caller shall be tactfully informed that the
request does not fall within the scope of police
duties and cannot be accommodated.
(2) Requests for emergency notification shall
be evaluated and, when found valid, honored.
B. Walk In, On Beat, and Mail Complaints
1. When walk in, on beat, or mail complaints
are received, the officer investigating the complaint
shall obtain the information to prepare the report.
2. The investigating officer shall contact the
Communications Division for a case report number.
NUMBERING OF REPORTS
A. The CADS generates a unique, sequential,
eight-digit case report number for each report.
The first two digits are the last two digits of
the year received; the remaining digits are
assigned starting with 000001. All offenses
directly connected to the same event shall be
documented individually as a three-digit offense
number under the case report number.
B. CADS Out of Service
When notification has been received that the
CADS will be out of service, the Communications
Division shall immediately use the CRS to
generate report numbers. If both the CADS
and CRS are nonoperational, the Communications
Division shall use the Complaint Report card,
HPD-18 form, and reference number system.
Once the CADS is restored and operational,
Communications Division personnel shall
manually input information on the Complaint
Report card, HPD-18 form, into the CADS.
1. Each card shall be assigned a reference number
from a sequence maintained by the Communications Division.
This number shall be used to identify the case until the CADS is
operational and a case report number can be assigned.
2. The Communications Division shall collate
the cards and make them available to the Records
and Identification Division when necessary to
inform that division of the reference numbers in use.
C. Report numbers are sometimes issued in
error. When this occurs, the officer who requested
the number shall submit a 60 series report using
the report number to explain the reason for the
error. If a report submitted under a different
number is involved, the other number is to be
listed in the comment field of the report.
FIELD REPORTS
A. Classification of Incidents
1. In general, the nature of the incident
determines its classification. The Communications
Division shall determine the initial classification of each incident.
2. The investigating officer may change the
classification of an incident if circumstances so warrant.
a. If the officer who initially investigates
the incident changes the classification before
leaving the scene, the officer should notify the
Communications Division so that the change can be noted in the CADS.
b. If the investigating officer decides to
change the classification after the initial
incident report has been submitted, the officer
shall complete and submit a follow up report to document the change.
B. Preparation of Reports
1. Only reports generated electronically
and authorized by the Information Technology
Division (ITD) shall be used. Handwritten
reports are only acceptable when authorized by the ITD.
2. A printed departmental form shall be
used when the form has no electronic equivalent
or is not generated automatically by the CRS.
Completed, printed forms shall be scanned and inputted into the CRS.
Information recorded on handwritten reports
shall be typed in black or written with a pen
in indelible black ink. All information on
the face pages and witness statement forms
(except signatures) shall be typed or block
printed; cursive entries are not acceptable.
Illegible entries are not acceptable on any
report form. All paper field reports shall be
scanned and inputted into the CRS.
3. Each report shall be as complete as
possible when it is turned in (photographs
processed, diagrams filled in, etc.), regardless
of the likelihood of later prosecution or other action.
4. When an offense or incident occurs in
another jurisdiction (military or other federal
properties, other Hawaii counties, the mainland,
or foreign countries), it shall be recorded with
the word “OUT” selected in the space provided for the beat of the offense.
5. Each report shall be approved by a supervisor
through the electronic workflow and routed to the
appropriate investigative detail as necessary.
a. A supervisor shall approve the report
only after determining that it has been filled
out as completely and accurately as possible at that time.
b. If the approving supervisor determines
that a report must be corrected, but this cannot
be accomplished until the following day, he or
she shall not approve the report.
A note regarding the correction(s) to be made
shall be entered in the workflow comment section,
and the report shall be returned to the officer.
6. An electronic signature that is
automatically generated by a computer for
a specific officer shall have the authority
and validity of the officer’s handwritten
signature. The electronic signature shall
consist of the officer’s entire first and
last names and six-digit identification
number. The definition, application, and
attribution of electronic signatures shall be in accordance with
Chapter 489E of the Hawaii Revised Statutes.
7. Additional procedures for the preparation
of reports shall be established as necessary by
the Records and Identification Division.
C. Submission
1. Element commanders shall ensure that
their personnel submit all assigned reports
and attachments in a timely manner.
2. Patrol Districts
a. Patrol officers shall submit their
reports through the electronic workflow in
the CRS. The investigator receiving original
attachment(s) is responsible for scanning
the attachment(s) into the CRS by the end
of the investigator’s work shift.
b. If an investigator was not assigned
to the case, the officers shall turn in the
attachments to the coordinating sergeant by
the end of their scheduled work shift. The
coordinating sergeant shall scan the attachment(s)
into the CRS before the end of the sergeant’s work shift.
3. Other Elements and Follow-Up Units
All other elements and follow-up units shall
submit reports electronically in the CRS using the electronic workflow.
4. When the CRS is unavailable, officers shall:
a. Complete their reports manually using the
CRS templates installed locally on their computers;
b. Print and submit their reports before the end of their shift; and
c. Ensure that they save an electronic copy for future reference.
D. Release of Reports
1. Requests From Other Law Enforcement Agencies
a. Before a copy of an open felony case
report is provided to an outside law enforcement
agency, approval shall be obtained from the officer
in charge of the division conducting the investigation.
b. Only the Records and Identification
Division commander can authorize the release
of a closed case to an outside law enforcement agency.
c. The commander of the Community Affairs
Division (CAD) may approve the duplication and
release of police reports for certain misdemeanors,
petty misdemeanors, and status offenses. These
reports shall only be provided to agencies that
are authorized by the Family Court for purposes
stated in the letter of authorization (see the
attachment).
2. Requests From the Public
Requests from the public for reports shall be
referred to the Records and Identification Division.
3. Internal Requests and Access
Internal requests for reports that are not
directly from the public require a Review
and Reproduction Service Request, HPD-422
form, to be submitted to the commander of
the Records and Identification Division for approval.
REPORT FORMS AND THEIR USES
A. Incident Report, HPD l92 Form
This form is used for all offenses, complaints,
and occurrences for which a numbered police report
is required except motor vehicle collisions (see
section VI F below).
1. Criminal case reports have required
fields that are dependent upon the type of
offense(s). Therefore, the required fields
must be completed properly upon submission
to the supervisor through the CRS workflow.
Supervisors approving a report shall review
the submitted report and ensure that the required
fields are completed properly.
2. The domestic violence field is used to
distinguish domestic violence cases from all
others. The domestic violence field shall be
filled when conditions meet the criteria of a
domestic violence incident (Refer to Policy 4.18,
ABUSE OF FAMILY OR HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS).
B. Evidence/Property Report, HPD-192A Form
1. This form is prepared by each employee who
accepts, receives, or seizes evidence or found property.
2. Found property and untaxed bicycle
(including moped) cases also require the
submission of an incident report.
3. The HPD-192A form shall be used when
submitting evidence or property. This report
shall be submitted electronically into the CRS.
The chain of custody shall be maintained in
accordance with Policy 8.13, HANDLING OF
EVIDENCE AND FOUND PROPERTY.
C. Continuation Report, HPD l92B Form
This form is used for the following:
1. Correction of an earlier report;
2. Addition of new information to a report;
3. Addition of supplemental information in an earlier report;
4. Cancellation of a report of an automobile theft
that has been determined to be unfounded; and
5. Addition of evidence or found property that
will not fit on the face page of the Evidence/Property Report, HPD-192A form.
D. Domestic Violence Supplements, HPD-DV1,
HPD-DV2, HPD-DV3, and HPD-DV-LAP Forms
These forms are completed, scanned, and attached
to the incident report in the CRS for all incidents
involving abusive relationships (see Policy 4.18,
ABUSE OF FAMILY AND HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS).
The original Domestic Violence Supplement report
shall be sent to the Criminal Investigation
Division’s (CID) Family Violence Detail.
E. Booking Report, Computerized Booking System
1. The booking report in the RMS is used
to record all arrests of persons being processed
at the holding or temporary detention facility.
2. The arresting officer shall consult
with the officer in charge at the receiving
desk before starting the booking procedure.
3. Receiving desk personnel shall prepare
the booking report with information provided
by the arresting officer. Only general information
about the offense that prompted the arrest shall
be entered on the booking report form; details of
the offense shall be submitted in the appropriate crime report.
4. Fingerprints and other essential data must
be recorded on the identification copy of the booking report form.
5. In the case of a citizen’s arrest, the
investigating officer shall normally require the
citizen to accompany the officer to the receiving desk
and sign the initial report in the officer’s presence.
Exceptions to this rule are when:
a. A business submits a properly executed
Shoplifting Report, HPD 3l7 form, or Trespass Report,
HPD 406 form. The report must contain the details
of the offense and the arrest and must be properly
signed. In such cases, the investigating officer
may accept the prisoner without requiring the citizen
who made the arrest to appear at the receiving desk
to sign the arrest report. The officer accepting
the arrest shall submit his or her report as an initial report; and
b. The value of the goods taken in a
shoplifting case is sufficient to make the
offense theft in the first or second degree.
In such cases, the investigating officer shall
effect the arrest and have the CID notified
immediately. The officer shall then prepare
a theft report and attach the shoplifting
report to it to document the citizen’s arrest.
F. Motor Vehicle Collision Report
The reporting of any motor vehicle collision
(including nontraffic and noncollision incidents)
shall be done electronically in the CRS and in
accordance with Policy 6.08, MOTOR VEHICLE COLLISIONS.
REFERENCES
See also Policy 7.01, ARRESTS AND ARRESTED PERSONS.