1 24a Water Steet Ps Box 95050 =. enoEnson rouice DePr. To: Melissa Weight City Auditor FROM: Patrick Moers Chief of Police DATE: = o33t/is SUBJECT: Citation Auéit ‘The Henderson Police Department seeks out and values external audits. We appreciate your team’s thoroughness, professionalism and recommendations for improvement. ‘We have reviewed your report and offer the following responses. Report: Dismissal of Citations ‘The Report states in pertinent part: Based on the above, it appears HPD is dismissing trafic citations after the citations have been filed with the Court. However, HPD does not have statutory authority to dismiss citations. NRS 484A.680 (3) and (4) states he following: “Upon filing the original ora copy ofthe traffic citation with a court having jurisdiction over the alleged offense, the traffic citation may be disposed of only by trial in te court having jurisdiction over the alleged offense or other official action by the judge ofthat court.” It further states that it is unlawful and official misconduct for ‘any peace officer to dispose ofa traffic citation in a manner other than as required by this section Response: ‘The finding that there is an appearance that HPD is dismissing citations after the citations have been filed withthe Court is naccurate and this explanation will help clarify the process. ‘When a citation Is Issued by an oficer, the elation Is forwarded to the Court. If there is reason, forthe citation to be voided or amended, an officer may submit a request fora void or an amendment to the Cour. This process requires the offcer to submit HPD Form 0138. This form is ultimately signed off and approved by a Lieutenant. This i the form submitted to the Court requesting an action be takea. The final determination is made by the Court and the decision to act on this request is held bythe Court in accordance with NRS 484A, 680, ‘Asa result ofthe audit and t avoid confusion and the appearance HPI the HPD Form 0318 has been amended by removing the dismissal option. dismissing citations,Report: In the event that a citation already submitted to the Court needs tobe dismissed or vokded, the HPDO138 form requesting the dismissal or void should be submitted tothe City Attomey's office. Additionally, HPD and the Court should review the HPDO138 process and determine the most efficient method to notify the violator ofthe citation void. Response: HPD is currently working with the City Attomey’s Office to develop and discuss a process to address the recommended changes. The Records Bureau has submitted an update to change our Citation policy to comply with this recommendation. The necessary stake holders have been notified ofthe changes. Report: The term void should be defined in the procedure manual as the action of canceling a station that has been initated or completed, but has not yet been filed with the Court. Once ithas been filed, only the Court can dispose of the citation per NRS. The officers should be instructed to provide a detailed reason for each citation void. The HPD should amend the procedure manual to clearly define the term void and to explain when it would be appropriate o void a citation Response: ‘This recommendation is being reviewed and HPD will work withthe City Atiomey’s Office to develop a process consistent with this recommendation, Report: ‘The police administrative specialists (civilian) from the three Patrol Divisions will sera completed citation books and Request for Citation Void/Dismissal/Amendment (HPDOI38) forms tothe Records Bureau who retains them for audit purposes. Response: ‘The Records Bureau hus changed the HPD 0138 title. It is now called the Request Citation Void! ‘Amendment form. The word "dismiss" has been removed, Report: ‘The police administrative spevialists (PAS) located at each of the Patrol Divisions should be reminded to send all HPDO138 forms tothe Records Bureau. Also, the officers and sergeants should be reminded of the procedures requiring signatures on the HPDO138 forms. Response: ‘This has been completed by communication through the chain of command,Report: ‘The HPD uses a 5-part manual citation form. Each citation book, containing 25 citation forms, currently costs $200.97. This breaks down toa cost of $8.04 per manual citation. In contacting the vendor, we found that the high costs based on the fact that 3 parts ofthe citation have a bar code affixed to the form. Discussion with both HPD and Court personne! disclosed thatthe bar codes are not used in any way. Three pars of the citation form are sent to the Court. However, Court personnel use only one part of the form. Therefor, it appears that the extra form parts are unnecessary. As noted previously, 10,747 manual citations were issued during the audit period, At $8.04 per form, approximately $86,000 was expended during the audit period forthe waffic citation forms, We recommend thatthe HPD discontinue purchasing bar coded manual citation forms, We also recommend that they consider employing cost savings measures by reducing the S-part forms to ‘3-part or 4-part form, after assessing appropriate needs. Potential cost savings resulting from these measures could be applied toward purchasing additional handheld devices (at a cost of approximate $3,000 each) Response: The 5-part citation may be required for Joining Forces events. Further research is being conducted to find a more efficient, cost savings measure, Repor ‘The police sergeants and police administrative specialists at each Patrol Division should ensure citation issuance logs are completed in accordance with the procedure manual Response: ‘Accountability for the issuance of citation logs will be held at the Traffic Lieutenants level. fan error occurs, the corrective action wil be noted in the Iraltie Lieutenant's quarterly review. Repo ‘The listing obtained from the HPD Supply and Equipment Technician shows a total of 93 devices. Thirteen of these devices with a model number of MC7095 have been retired and are no longer inservice. Additionally, twelve devices are being repaired and nine devices are being re- imaged so they are out of service. The list shows the devices as active, As devices are in need of service or retired, the IT Department Senior Support Analyst will deactivate devices within the APS software. This information may not be communicated with the HPD Supply and Equipment Technician, resulting in an outdated listing. The HPD Supply and Equipment Technician should ‘communicate with the IT Department Senior Support Analyst on a regular basis to ensure the listing reflets the most current information regarding the devicesResponse: [PD's Supply and Equipment Unitis working with IT on this issue to develop a process consistent with this reommendation. Report: AAs of July 1, 2014, HPD has 193 officers that may writ citations, but only 59 handheld devices ae in service. The officers that do not have handheld devices have to hand wate citations. It takes additonal time to write outa citation, they ean be difficult to read, and they have to be ‘manually entered into CourtView by Court personnel. We recommend that HPD and the IT Department examine other technologies and avenues that may offer a less expensive solution to issue citations. With les expensive alternative, more devices may be added to reduce the time ‘and number of manual citations that have to be written and manually processed by the Court, Response: Currently the HPD has 336 sworn police officers who have the authority to write citations. If this section is designed to articulate the need for additional electronic citation devices, we would recommend using the number 161 (total numberof patrol officers and trafic officers, not including supervisors). HPD has a committe that meets monthly with IT to review, develop, research, brainstorm and ‘implement new technology. This topic has been added to the next agenda. All of our projects are prioritized with IT. Report: ‘The organizational ckart, dated February 2014, from the HPD intranet website does not reflect current personnel forthe North Patrol Division or the Traffic Bureau Response: ‘The organizational chart has been updated Report: ‘The procedure manual makes reference to NRS 484.813 (6). However, NRS 484.813 (6) was replaced with NRS 4844.680. Response: ‘This has been updated inthe current policy revision to ensure compliance and citations are ‘correct.Report: ‘The procedure manual does not address the HPDOI38 form for voiding manual citations. However, we noted multiple occurrences of voided citations being documented on this form in ‘our detailed testing. HPD management should determine whether the HPDO138 form shouid be used for manual etation voids. Response: A revision has been submitted to make this clear. Report: The prior audit noted that officers ae sharing handheld devices and policy states that devices should not be shaied among police officers. Management's response to the previous audit report Stated that the policy would be changed to allow police officers to share handheld devices, However, this has not occured. Response: ‘This has been updated inthe current policy revision,