Records

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RECORDS SECTION

The Consolidated Flagstaff Police Department/Coconino County Sheriff’s Department Records Division is an essential component of the Police Department. The section is staffed by 10 Administrative Records Specialists and one Records Supervisor. It continues to be the central repository where all City Police, Coconino County Sheriff and Coconino Detention Facility reports are received, stored, and disseminated in both paper and electronic formats. Information is entered into the Hexagon OnCall Records Management System and hard copy documents electronically scanned and attached to allow both on and off-site criminal justice staff to view or reproduce reports from their local workstations. Detailed electronic information is now available on over 3,596,296 Calls for service, over 605,113 Incident and crime reports, 418,794 Vehicles, 324,349 Arrests, and 247,399 Jail Bookings.

The Records Staff continues to become more familiar with updated technology and more accustomed to managing electronic documents. Records staff reviews and conducts the final approval process for all incidents, arrests and citations electronically submitted by officers through the Records Management System.

Our Records Management System (RMS) software is shared with numerous Northern Arizona law enforcement agencies, including Northern Arizona University Police Department, Coconino County Sheriff’s Department and Coconino County Detention Facility. Having a shared RMS has assisted our agencies, as well as other criminal justice counterparts, to have access to regional, instead of strictly city criminal justice contacts. This has benefitted agencies like Flagstaff City Court and Prosecutor, Coconino County Adult Probation, Arizona Department of Public Safety Gang Intelligence and Team Enforcement Mission (GITEM), FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

Records staff produce monthly statistical reports for agency staff, private citizens and FBI crime reporting. The Support Services Manager is responsible to submit monthly crime statistics to the Arizona Department of Public Safety which then transfer data to the FBI. The Flagstaff Police Department is committed to ensuring that the source data we submit for the Central State Repository and for FBI National Incident Based Crime Reporting is accurate and comprehensive.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

The Flagstaff Police Department implemented Hexagon’s Web-based Records Management System, known as OnCall Records, in August 2020. OnCall RMS stores and retrieves information on incidents, arrests, warrants, property, case management, field interviews, and many other types of information required to manage a public safety agency. This system possesses enhancements which include both physical and virtual servers which helps make the application run faster and be more efficient. The ability to associate property and evidence to an accident record, the ability for calls for service records to be attached to multiple incidents and accidents, and expanded abilities to transfer data from one module to another, such as from accidents to citations, from arrests to citations and from citations to arrests is beneficial. Additionally, officers in the field are able to access Hexagon’s Records Management website, report incidents, and accidents, and transfer queries and responses using wireless technology. This promotes more efficient use of time by enabling officers to complete reporting tasks in the field instead of at the station.

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TraCS

The Flagstaff Police Department also implemented a system called TraCS in conjunction with the Arizona Department of Transportation. This system allows officers in the field to complete accident reports, traffic citations and vehicle warnings electronically by using bar codes on individuals’ drivers’ licenses to enter the driver information. Records Staff performs quality assurance on these documents to ensure the data transferred correctly and completely.

DATA SHARING

In an effort to streamline procedures, the department implemented a shared drive with the Flagstaff Municipal Court where Records staff deposit citations and reports for the court. The City Attorney’s Office has also begun using this shared drive to retrieve reports they need for prosecution.

Hours of service for Records were changed to bring the section more into line with operating schedules of other departments around the state. The section is now open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and closed to the public on Saturday and Sunday except for vehicle releases and those picking up property from the safekeeping room. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Records staff began setting appointments for fingerprint, background check and report pick up services in order to minimize the number of people in the lobby at one time. Records handled 22,387 Police and Sheriff’s reports and 8,442 Jail booking records in 2020. Over 24,000 Reports were entered into the computer database and approximately 26,087 copies of reports were disseminated to the public and criminal justice agencies.

CRIME REPORTS

CrimeReports.com is an internet-based service which is free to the public and allows citizens to access a website and view crime locations and general crime trends within their community. CrimeReports.com publishes incident-level crime data provided by the Flagstaff Police Department and makes that information searchable by area, date, and crime type. The service also includes a basic analytics component, giving both law enforcement agencies and the public an easy-to-read snapshot of crime at the neighborhood level. Users may sign up to receive e-mail alerts on specific crime types within a certain geographic area.

ONLINE SERVICES

Formerly, the Flagstaff Police Department utilized outside vendors to provide services for customers to purchase reports online and to file simple police reports online. In 2017, the department created its own online portal, through the City of Flagstaff website, from which citizens can request police reports and background checks and apply to participate in a ridealong with an officer. Requests for police reports also continue to be requested by fax and mail as well as in person at the Records Section. Private property hit and run accidents and other simple reports can also be reported online through the police department portal.

Another new enhancement added to the department is the acceptance of credit card payments in addition to accepting cash and checks for payment of services and products. Customers can use their credit/debit card to pay in person or online through the Point and Pay system implemented throughout the City of Flagstaff.

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LIVESCAN FINGERPRINT MACHINE

The Flagstaff Police Department utilizes the Live Scan ID 500 fingerprint system, eliminating the need to do fingerprints manually by rolling a person’s fingertips on an ink pad. Quality checks within the equipment provide immediate feedback to the user regarding the quality of the fingerprints eliminating rejections when the fingerprints are sent to the FBI or the Arizona Department of Public Safety. The equipment sits on a desktop in conjunction with a laptop computer. The system automatically senses the placement of the finger, capturing the image only if it meets predetermined quality criteria, all without manual intervention and additional steps or keystrokes. Records Section personnel are available to provide fingerprinting services by appointment Tuesday through Friday.

SPECIAL SERVICES

EVIDENCE

In 2020, the Evidence Section received and processed 10,760 pieces of evidence, which were logged in by officers, agents, and detectives for case investigation and prosecution. In addition to items of evidence, our technicians handle individual’s property, retained for safekeeping and processed a total of 243 bicycles, which were abandoned, stolen or a combination of the two. A total of 997 items were returned to owners and 10,634 items were destroyed. There were 974 articles of evidence that met the criteria to be submitted to the Arizona Department of Public Safety (Northern Arizona Crime Laboratory) for scientific analysis. This section continues to house and manage over 100,000 items of evidence.

PARKING CONTROL

The Flagstaff Police Department works in conjunction with ParkFlag to help support the mission and vision of the City of Flagstaff and its community members. Officers continue to remain vigilant enforcing parking violations, primarily outside of the downtown area. Officers also continue to identify and remove junk or abandoned vehicles. In 2020, the department received 340 calls for service regarding abandoned or junked vehicles, of which, 116 were tagged and reported as such. Ultimately, over 42 of these identified vehicles remained in violation of the city ordinance and required removal via tow. We are excited to continue our work with ParkFlag to promote safe and lawful parking throughout Flagstaff!

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