Packing the Record
By Rebecca Waddell
World travelers have no need to look up travel hacks to know how to pack their bags before jetting off to their next exclusive destination. For those who travel less often, the internet is full of advice and methods to help the unexperienced traveler ensure they don’t forget anything. Entering a record and making sure to pack it with as much data as possible serves the same purpose as looking up packing hacks before travel.
Packing a record means putting as much information as possible into the entry of a stolen vehicle, a piece of found property, a missing person, a wanted person, etc. That information can come from more than just the incident leading to the entry of the record. Adding the driver’s license number, FBI number, and CII number to a warrant can be as important as a traveler having their passport. Without those unique identifiers, the chances of an officer in the field detaining someone besides the wanted person increase. That results in time the individual stopped is stuck being detained for something they didn’t do and time the officer is stuck with the wrong person. With staffing issues and scrutiny on every aspect of law enforcement, entering as much verified information as possible into a record is more important than ever.
Though it takes time to collect information on tattoos and other identifiers from various systems at our disposal, putting that information in a location where field units can use it has incredible advantages. Suppose there is a person who is wanted for attempted burglary who was identified by fingerprints. The warrant is issued with a driver’s license number that has height, weight, hair, and eye color. From there, a check of the local incarceration database would reveal that the wanted person was released to another agency two days before the warrant was entered into CLETS. The likelihood of locating the wanted person at that other agency is high. If no one checks the jail records, that information would be lost.
In this same scenario, if the jail records were not checked, and only the information entered from the basic driver’s license return was entered into the wanted persons system, several things could happen. The hope is that the agency that has custody of the person would check to see if that individual has any wants or warrants before releasing them. What would be even better is if the CII number was added to that warrant record so that the automatic notifications that go out showing the person belonging to the CII number on the warrant is in custody at another agency could be sent. Back to the warrant that was entered with only basic information. If the wanted person has a common name, the chances of the wrong person being detained become even higher.
No one wants to have a situation where a person with a similar build, description, and name is contacted and the contact goes poorly. No one wants to be the person who didn’t take the time when the record was entered to check the databases at a click of their mouse to get more information about the wanted person. No one wants to find out that if the time had just been taken at the time of entry, that it would have prevented an innocent person from being suspected of being the wanted person. Those encounters can deprive an innocent person of their liberty, tie up resources that may be needed for an emergency, and are overall not the result anyone wants. They can also become dangerous situations and perpetuate negative feelings toward law enforcement.
Packing the record may seem time consuming. It may seem unnecessary even. However, it is important and can save time and dignity for everyone. Not taking the time to put in as much information as possible is like a traveler not being sure if they actually packed any socks or underwear because they just didn’t feel like checking. At the end of the day, packing the record is a lot more important than forgetting to pack those socks.
