609 – CopLogic Online Citizen Police Reporting System
I. Purpose
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) will provide online reporting services to the community through the CopLogic online citizen police reporting system.
II. Definitions
CopLogic: An online citizen self-reporting system designed to collect reportable data on minor incidents for additional investigation, statistical analysis, and state reporting while eliminating the requirement of an on-scene response by deputies. The solution reduces data entry for personnel, improves the use of deputies’ time by eliminating trips to citizen locations, decreases citizen traffic at the records section, improves incident information accuracy, and allows for faster investigations and reporting of minor crimes.
Pending Reports: Reports that are submitted but require additional information or clarification will be placed in a pending status while awaiting further information from the citizen reporter. To obtain additional information and place a report in a pending status, reviewers will select the “Follow Up” option from within the report review screen. Selecting the “Follow Up” option generates an automated instructional e-mail to the reporter where the reviewer can specify additional required information necessary to approve the CopLogic report. Reports placed in a pending status will remain available for update by the reporter for 15 days. Upon update and resubmission by the reporter, the CopLogic report is placed into “Resubmitted” status with the status date. If the reporter fails to resubmit the requested information within the 15-day window, the system automatically deletes the report. When a report is placed into pending status, an e-mail notification of the event is sent to the CopLogic supervisors.
Permanent Case Number: A Harris County case number that is issued upon HCSO approval of a citizen’s CopLogic report. The case number sequence for citizen reports begins annually at seven million (7000000) and is preceded by the two-digit year of submission. The format for the permanent case number is YY7NNNNNN. Rejected or deleted CopLogic reports will not have a permanent case number issued.
Rejected Reports: Reports that do not meet the requirements for being reported online will be rejected by the reviewing staff by selecting the “Reject” option from within the report review screen. Selecting the “Reject” option generates an automated instructional e-mail to the reporter where the reviewer can specify the reasons his or her report was not approved. Rejected reports never receive a permanent case number and are purged from the system. When a report is rejected, an e-mail notification of the event is sent to the CopLogic supervisors.
Review and Approve: Reports will be reviewed for eligibility and completeness from within the CopLogic application. If the report meets the criteria, it is approved in the CopLogic application, resulting in assignment of a permanent case number and automatic export to Mobile Field Reporting (MFR). Once in the MFR, the report is managed and processed by the reviewer in the same manner as reports initiated in the MFR. Final supervisor approval will take place in MFR once the report is owner-approved by the reviewer.
Temporary Case Number: A unique number issued by the CopLogic system and provided to the citizen upon completion of the initial CopLogic report by both the web page and e-mail notification. Upon approval of the citizen’s report, the temporary case number is stored as the computer-aided dispatch (CAD) call number in the Automated Reporting System. The format for the temporary case number is TYYNNNNNN and is defined as follows:
T – Alpha identifier indicating a temporary case number
YY – The two-digit year of submission
NNNNNN – The sequential number of the report submitted
III. Policy
The following crimes and reports may be referred to the CopLogic reporting system as long as the reporter is at least 18 years old and there is no suspect information available:
IV. Procedure
The HCSO will respond to in-progress incidents, all crimes with evidence or information that may lead to the identity of a suspect and his or her apprehension, or incidents that have just occurred with a likelihood the suspect may still be in the area.
1. All misdemeanor thefts,
2. Missing or lost property, and
3. Criminal mischief to public or private property, including damage to a motor vehicle without suspect information.
A. Citizen Access and Referral to CopLogic (Communications, Patrol, Investigators for Supplements)
Access to CopLogic services will be through the HCSO main Internet web page.
1. Determine if the citizen has Internet access. If not, dispatch a Patrol unit.
2. Determine if the call type meets the online reporting criteria.
3. Inform the caller that he or she has the option of filing the report online, which would allow him or her to file the report immediately and also to print a copy of the report for free.
4. Inform the caller of the HCSO website address (www.harriscountyso.org) which will guide him or her through filing a report.
B. Report Approval Responsibilities
1. The Burglary and Theft Unit personnel assigned to the CopLogic system will review the online reports queue via the web application throughout their shift and import approved reports in the online reporting system. If the citizen report is misclassified, such as theft instead of a burglary to a motor vehicle, the Burglary and Theft Unit personnel will re-classify the report according to the elements of the offense described by the citizen author.
2. The Burglary and Theft Unit personnel will refrain from making grammatical corrections to citizens’ reports that may change the factual basis of the report unless they are minor in nature, such as “orange” spelled as “ornge.” If the Burglary and Theft Unit personnel determine the report was misclassified, it may be modified to fit the most appropriate section. Any changes made by the reviewer are tracked in the online reporting system.
3. If the citizen reports an incident that is minor in nature and occurred in another jurisdiction and the citizen is a resident of our jurisdiction, the report may be reclassified as an outside assist and approved.
4. If there are questions regarding the report’s content, in lieu of rejecting the online report, the reviewing personnel will attempt to contact the reporting citizen by telephone or e-mail to make the correction to it. If the reviewing person is unable to establish contact with the citizen, additional attempts will be made until the matter is resolved.
5. If Burglary and Theft Unit personnel reject a report, the reason for rejection will be appropriately and professionally noted in the rejection box, which is sent via e-mail to the citizen with a duplicate to a department storage mailbox.
6. The Burglary and Theft Unit reviewer will request a Patrol response when, in the reasonable judgment of the reviewer, circumstances indicate that further Patrol investigation is warranted. In this circumstance, a rejection should be sent to the citizen, and the reviewing personnel will state in the rejection box that a Patrol response needs to be made. This will be followed by attempting telephone contact with the citizen to coordinate the appropriate Patrol response.
7. The Burglary and Theft Unit personnel assigned to review the electronically-filed reports will review them each work day.
C. Supervisor Approval Responsibilities
Each area supervisor will be responsible for reviewing and approving reports that have been forwarded to MFR from the CopLogic system.
Revision
This policy has been revised on the below listed dates:
August 23, 2010
October 31, 2018
May 20, 2021