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-Police Reports Trigger a Complex Process-
Have you ever wondered what happened to a police report once it was taken by an Officer? If you have ever been the victim of a crime and had to call the West Covina Police Department for a report, you started a chain of events that could pass through a dozen hands and offices.

First, police reports satisfy two basic, but critical, needs. The most obvious function of a police report is to start a process for criminal prosecution. A Police Department's main duty is to prevent crime, and a criminal prosecution goes a long way in deterring many from committing further crimes.

The second function of police reports is to track and predict crime trends and patterns. Crime trends and patterns direct the Police Department in allocating manpower and resources to those areas and crimes that are having the greatest impact on the quality of life in the City. All reports taken are statistically tracked for crime patterns, then they are classified to depending on the possibility of solving and successfully prosecuting the case.

After being written by the Officer, the report is submitted to the Watch Commander for approval. The Watch Commander classifies the report as "Active", "Suspended", or "Records".

There are basically two criteria to determine the appropriate category for a report. The first is the severity of the crime; the second is the probability of solving the crime. All felony crimes and sex crimes are coded either "Active" (if there is a likelihood of solving the crime) or "Suspended" (if there is not a likelihood of solving the crime). All other misdemeanor crimes are coded "Active" or "Records", depending on "solvability".

All "Active" and "Suspended" cases go directly to the Detective Bureau and are assigned to the appropriate detective. Active cases with "workable information" (information that may lead a detective to the suspect) must be acted upon within thirty days, unless circumstances require a longer investigation. Suspended cases are also assigned to a detective, but lacking the workable information of Active cases, detectives read the reports for crime patterns and compare the crimes to the patterns of known criminals.

Reports that are classified as "Records" remain inactive unless additional information is developed.

If a case is investigated and all available leads are exhausted, the case is suspended by the detective, pending additional information or leads. If the investigation develops a suspect, the assigned detective must gather all available evidence and present the case to the District Attorney for consideration.

If the District Attorney's office feels there is sufficient evidence they will issue an arrest warrant if the suspect is not in custody, or file the complaint if the suspect is already in custody. The suspect then goes to trial. If, in the District Attorney's opinion, there is insufficient evidence to proceed to trial, the detective may attempt to gain as much additional information as possible. If additional information or evidence cannot be gathered, the case is rejected.

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