Technology has changed considerably since the second edition of the guide was printed. While records continue to be a critical component of the operation of a law enforcement agency, the changes in technology are proving to be a welcome addition to the tools a records manager may have to keep pace with the increasing demands for records storage and retrieval. The manual will provide a glimpse of new technologies and systems that are available to law enforcement today. Since the last edition was published, there have been significant changes in the legislation, several of which require reporting of specific crimes to the California Department of Justice. Those legislative changes and case law decisions affecting records managers have been included in this edition. We have expanded the scope of our records manual and include information on new justice data systems which are available to all California law enforcement agencies.

This manual describing a complete records and information system designed for manual operation in a police department of small-to-medium size is structured to be implemented at any of eight levels of complexity. This model system is presented as a basic hand-operated system for the law enforcement agency seeking a major overhaul of present record keeping. In addition to the base system eight levels of graduated complexity are included which can adapt the system for use by all but the largest departments. It can also be adapted for computer use. Included are a discussion of the general concepts of good records management, illustrations and discussions of use of basic forms (dispatch cards, the incident ledger, the daily report, the offense report, the miscellaneous incident report, and vehicle reports), and distribution and filing of data generated. Special sections cover the arrest record, traffic citations, field interview reports, and the preparation of periodic statistical summary reports. Charts present a step-by-step method for implementing the system. Two appendixes present complete field and administrative manuals for system users.