Policies and Procedures

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to RCW Ch. 42.56 (Public Records Act), I hereby request the following records:

I am seeking document that specifically outlines the policy to be followed for officers with assigned vehicles when signing in and out of the MCT.

For example, one PD may require officers to sign in to their MCT 5 minutes after leaving their residence while driving their assigned vehicle and are not to turn them off until 5 minutes before arriving back to their residence. Another PD may have a similar rule but allow for 20 minutes on each end. Please provide documentation that addresses any such policies POPD has in place and which regulate or ensure that officers are not cruising around in their assigned vehicles for personal business or while signed out of their MCT's?

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 5 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Penny Allen

Dear Ms. Circelli,
Thank you for providing records which outline basic policy addressing authorized uses of POPD computer systems, network systems, mobile computer terminals, etc.

Written in the policy you provided I find:

"Use of Departmental Computers, D. Mobile Computer Terminals (5) MCT's are equipped with automatic Vehicle Location Technology (AVL) Employees are forbidden from disabling the AVL technology in police department vehicles."

This policy addresses the AVL is not to be tampered with and also indicates the AVL is operated by the MCT. I am looking for information regarding how the MCT is turned on and off Are they manually turned on or off by the officer; or are they powered by the ignition of the vehicle?

I appreciate your help,
P. Allen

Ms. Circelli,

I appreciate your lightning speed response. I do have another question I hope you can answer as easily. Having a policy written to address officers being 'prohibited' from disabling the AVL technology is confusing when considering that it is 'disabled' simply by turning off the MCT.

What is the policy for turning off the MCT?

Thanks,
P. Allen

Ms. Circelli,

Thank you for the suggestion but I don't need to have the provided information interpreted for me. The written policy provided to me was not responsive to my request. My request was for:

"the policy to be followed for officers with assigned vehicles when signing in and out of the MCT"

The policy provided pursuant to that request outlines the basic policy for accessing data using the MCT's but does not provide information as to when officers should turn them on or off.
For example, I'm certain officers would not turn them off during the middle of a high speed pursuit or a traffic stop. But are they advised to turn them off during breaks or lunch or during training times or when writing reports. Do they turn them off when they exit the vehicle to enter the premises of an event they've been dispatched to ; say a DV call where they enter a residence and remain for a while. Are they advised to turn them off anytime they exit the vehicle? Do they leave their vehicles running when they enter a premises (in order to) keep the MCT running? In the event the vehicle is turned off when entering a premises- what happens to the MCT - does it shutdown or run independent of the vehicle? Do they turn them on only when they are available for dispatch or are they expected to be on for the duration of their shift?

I hope this clarifies my original request was for what policies or rules are in place that officers are expected to follow regarding turning their MCTs on and off.

Thank you.
P. Allen

Ms. Circelli,
That would be fine, I would be happy to ask a supervisor. Respectfully, not wanting to repeat my mistake the last time we went down this road; I thought you wanted me to email Sgt. Main when you suggested I ask her why an officer had received an EIR and provided me with her email address. I did email her but she only forwarded my email request to you. That all happened the same day I came in to pay for some records. You were clearly frustrated about my numerous records requests and indicated that I should have called Sgt. Main on the phone to get the information she had "in her head" because there wasn't anything written anywhere about why the officer had received a written disciplinary action. I would like to follow up on that request as it has yet to be completed as well as this one. Would you be so kind as to provide me with the preferred method for me to contact her ?
Thanks,
P. Allen

Ms. Circelli,
As you suggested, I emailed Sgt. Main and she forwarded my email to you. You then replied to me that you did not tell me to ask her about the MCT. Sgt. Main has not contacted me and has only pushed my request back onto you.

That correspondence is pasted here:

From: PAllen
Subject: Circelli Referral for information re Lynch
Date: 05 March 2018 13:10
To: "Donna Main" <dmain@cityofportorchard.us>

Hello Sergeant Main,

Ms. Circelli suggested I contact you about some questions I have regarding policy.

You may recall a while back I had a question about why a disciplinary action was written on Officer Lynch. I did not get the answer yet. Ms. Circelli told me there are no records regarding the reason for the EIR but suggested I talk to you on the phone and you could tell me what you know. I would like to follow up on that. Since that time, I also have some new questions about the policy for officers use of MCTs in their assigned vehicles.

I'd appreciate a call from you when you have a moment to discuss.

My number is (XXX) XXX-XXXX and the best time to reach me is after 2:30pm weekdays or anytime on weekends.

I look forward to speaking with you.
P Allen

FW: Circelli Referral for information re Lynch
CC
Cyndi M. Circelli <ccircelli@cityofportorchard.us>

-------------------------
Reply|
Ms. Allen,

I did not suggest that you talk with Sergeant Main regarding the MCT policy. I told you that she may be able to answer your question regarding the disciplinary action on Officer Lynch, since she wrote it.

For the specific MCT policy questions you have, you can direct them to our Commander, Dale Schuster. dschuster@cityofportorchard.us

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Ms. Circelli,

Other than forwarding it to you, Sgt. Main has not yet responded to my email. Regardless of which records request she may have knowledge and could respond to, I would appreciate your assuring her that you did ask me to call her regarding the EIR and encourage her to followup. That said; This request is for, " documents that specifically outline the policy to be followed for officers with assigned vehicles when signing in and out of the MCT"

In the event I have failed to reasonably identify the requested records, I offer a more detailed explanation and offer possible tags for your search.

Your Department may refer to records by a name other than that which I have used in my request;
Please search for all references whether written, printed , hard copy, electronic, digital, cloud or otherwise that addresses POPD officers use of Department technology (the MCT's) in their assigned vehicles which specifically address turning the equipment and software on and off. Documents may include lists, rules, regulations, training manuals, training schedules, training agencies which mention or provide information about turning MCTs on or off or shutting down MCT, powering up MCT. Documents might include new employee manuals or user manuals. Training updates, email updates, manufacturer instructions including information about the maintenance and care of the equipment for example; not blocking air vents or fans or leaving equipment turned on for extended periods, in the event of over-heating; best practices for shutting down the equipment. Suggested time, intervals or situations calling for a need to reboot the equipment or shut down for software maintenance malfunctioning software or hardware etc. only to be turned off following tech support instructions, tech support. Any documents regarding use and or care of the technology and equipment. All Departmental Rules, suggestions or guidelines regarding turning equipment on at start or end of shift, during shift, during breaks, training or while off duty, leaving technology on when exiting the vehicle or turning it off during official business or similar situations and all training and rules on this topic which are documented.

Let me know if you need further clarification.

Thank you,
P Allen