Lakewood Police Department
Policy and Procedure
Case Status 		Effective Date: 04/15/2019
Policy Number: PP-8009 - Case Status
 
A. Policy

One of the agency's primary responsibilities is to investigate criminal acts to identify and arrest the perpetrators, recover stolen property, and gather admissible evidence. Offense reports will be screened by supervisors in the Investigation Division for solvability factors and assigned for follow-up investigation where warranted. Follow-up investigations will be fully documented and monitored for timely completion.

B. Procedure

Investigation Division team sergeants will screen each case individually to determine whether or not the case will be assigned to an investigator for further investigation. The objective of case screening is to apply -available resources to those investigations that have the best chance of being successful. Screening of preliminary investigative information will assist in the decision on whether a case will be assigned for follow-up investigation. Examples of criteria include the availability of resources, the degree of seriousness, and other solvability factors, such as:

1. The perpetrator is named or identified.
2. The perpetrator can be located.
3. A full or distinctive description of the perpetrator exists / the victim or a witness can identify the perpetrator.
4. The vehicle used or taken by the perpetrator can be identified or traced (tag number).
5. Stolen property can be identified or is traceable based on serial numbers or distinctive identifiable markings.
6. Traceable physical evidence sufficient to link an individual to the crime scene was recovered.
7. An unusual, distinctive, or significant Modus Operandi exists which links the crime with other crimes or specific suspects.
8. A very limited opportunity for persons other than the named suspect to have committed the crime.

In cases where sufficient solvability factors exist to support a strong potential for successful clearance, the case will be investigated.

Once assigned, the investigator receiving the case will be considered both the lead investigator and case coordinator, and therefore, will be accountable for the follow-up investigation.

CASE STATUS ASSIGNMENT (42.1.2) (82.1.5)

9. The following definitions will be used by all department components when compiling statistics for both in-house and NIBRS purposes. Supervisors will ensure that their team’s statistics are being captured and recorded as defined below.
 
a. Investigation Division supervisors will review original offense reports and supplements submitted and assign the appropriate NIBRS case clearance or case status based on the information known at the time of review. As additional information is received and follow-up investigations are conducted, the case status may change. Supervisors reviewing supplemental reports containing information that changes case status will record the revised case status by making the appropriate electronic notation in the records management system.

b. All criminal cases will have one of the following case clearances or statuses assigned in the Case Management System: 

Assigned - Under Investigation:  Cases currently assigned for investigation and investigative efforts are active. There is information which leads the reviewing supervisor to believe that there is a reasonable opportunity to clear the case by arrest or exception through follow-up investigation. Cases remain active until they are cleared by arrest or exception, are shown to be unfounded, or all investigative leads are exhausted and the investigation is inactive.

Assigned Pending lab results:   These are cases that are assigned to an investigator  but are not actively worked due to lack of leads but there is forensic evidence or other information that is forthcoming. This information could be lab analysis, fingerprint identification, or documents from other agencies. Once the additional information is received the team supervisor will reclassify the case as either assigned – Under investigation or inactive.

Inactive:  These are cases that are not being actively investigated.  Cases initially inactive due to the lack of solid leads may be activated at a later date based on the receipt of new or additional information.  A sergeant in the Investigation Division will establish the criteria for inactive investigations.  The criteria may include:

 a. Lack of further leads or solvability factors;
 b. Unavailability of investigative resources, and/or;
 c. Insufficient degree of seriousness.

Assigned Warrant:  These are cases that have been assigned to an investigator and the investigator has identified a suspect and has obtained an arrest warrant for that suspect. These cases must remain open and assigned until an arrest is made. All “Assigned-Warrant” cases will be reviewed every 90 days by the team supervisor to determine if all reasonable steps have been taken to arrest and bring the suspect to justice.

Unfounded: Through police investigation, it is determined the offense/crime did not occur.  (NIBRS Exceptional Clearance Code “U”-Unfounded)

Cleared by arrest (CBA):   An offense is cleared by arrest or solved for crime reporting purposes when at least one person is:
 
a. Arrested; 
b. Charged with the commission of the offense; and 
c. Turned over to the court for prosecution (whether following arrest, court summons, or police notice). Although no physical arrest is made, a clearance by arrest can be claimed when the offender is a person under 18 years of age and is cited to appear in Juvenile Court or before other juvenile authorities. 
d. The status of Cleared by arrest will not be used when another jurisdiction makes an arrest on a Lakewood case based on an arrest warrant related to that case.

Several crimes may be cleared by the arrest of one person, or the arrest of many persons may clear only one crime. Further, if several persons are involved in the commission of a crime and only one is arrested and charged, the crime is listed as cleared by arrest. When the other persons involved in the crime are arrested at a later date, no record will be made of a clearance by arrest since this offense was already cleared following the arrest of the first person.

Examples: 

1. Five thieves forcibly break and enter a warehouse; one suspect is arrested and charged. Statistically, this event will be recorded as one burglary and one physical arrest and one burglary clearance. Days later, the other four thieves are arrested and charged. No entry is made for the offense of burglary because the offense has already been recorded and cleared by the first arrest. However, the additional four physical arrests will simply be recorded as four burglary arrests cross referencing the original burglary case number.

2.  One suspect is arrested and charged with committing five separate burglaries. All five burglaries will be recorded as “Cleared by arrest”, however, only one physical arrest will be recorded with cross referencing the case numbers.

Cleared Exceptional: Clearance by exception occurs when there is some reason beyond the control of law enforcement that prevents an arrest from occurring. To clear a case by exception all of the following must be true:

1. The investigation has definitely established the identity of the offender.
2. There is sufficient information to support the arrest, charging, and prosecution of the offender.
3. Exact location of the offender is known so that he/she could be taken into custody now.
4. There is some reason beyond law enforcement control that stops the arrest, charging, and prosecution of the offender. 

Acceptable reasons for exceptional clearances are:

a. Death of the offender during the commission of the offense or prior to arrest.  (NIBRS Exceptional Clearance Code “A” – Death of Offender]

b. In custody other jurisdiction.  This covers situations where another jurisdiction has made an arrest on our charges as well as situations where extradition is officially denied. This could also be a situation in which there is a criminal series in multiple jurisdictions and the cases are tied together and presented in one jurisdiction. It also applies to Lakewood auto theft cases when the vehicle is recovered in another jurisdiction and an arrest is made by that jurisdiction. The identity of the arrestee must be names in the Lakewood case.  This classification will be also be used in circumstances where detectives close their case.  (NIBRS Exceptional Clearance Code “C” – In Custody of Other Jurisdiction] 

c. Victim refuses to cooperate and that refusal is the only impediment to prosecution of the offender.  [NIBRS Exceptional Clearance Code “D” – Victim Refused to Cooperate]

d. Juvenile no custody situations occur when a juvenile is identified as the perpetrator and they are diverted from the criminal justice system through in-house programs or referral to other agencies. The handling of a minor offense that involved a juvenile offender, by giving either an oral or written notice to the parents or legal guardian of the juvenile, instead of taking the juvenile offender into custody.  [NIBRS Exceptional Clearance Code “E” – Juvenile/No Custody]

e. Prosecution declined.  Case is presented to Municipal Court or District Attorney’s Office for review.  Upon review, the prosecuting agency declines to accept the case for filing and declines to prosecute.  Declination documentation required.  This can also include a case that is outside of the Statute of Limitations.  (Exceptional Clearance Code “B” – Prosecution Declined)
 
f. Cleared Exceptional cannot be made under the following circumstances:

(1) Simply turning the case over to the District Attorney for review for potential prosecution.
(2) The issuance of a warrant. 
(3) The District Attorney declines to prosecute due to lack of evidence.
(4) The recovery of stolen property or a stolen vehicle may not lead to the closure of the original theft offense unless the suspect is charged. Being charged with possession of stolen property does not automatically result in the exceptional closure of the underlying theft unless information sufficient to prosecute that offense has been developed. 
  
When a case is Cleared Exceptional, the investigation team sergeant will record in the records management system one of the specific reasons listed above as to why the Cleared Exceptional disposition has been used. 

Cleared administratively non-criminal:  Some cases assigned to investigators will be non-criminal in nature. Examples of these types of cases would include runaway, suicide, natural death, FI Card or suspicious incidents. When an investigator completes a non-criminal investigation, the closure of the case will be recorded as Cleared, administratively – non-criminal.  

Though there are other cases statuses in the shared records management system, these are the only case clearances and status that will be used. It is essential that all supervisors consistently assign case clearances and status so that agency NIBRS reports are accurate and public records requests can be processed efficiently.
 























PP-8011 - District Attorney Case Filings