Police chief outlines multiple policy updates, including new ride‑along and evidence-management policies

Chief Cross told the Radcliffe City Council during a July 7 work session that the Radcliffe Police Department is proposing several policy updates and new rules, including a new ride‑along policy and a new property-room evidence‑management policy.

“These are KACP numbers that they use, and we try to match those,” Chief Cross said when explaining renumbering of evidence-related policies. He described a set of changes to policies drawn from chapter 27: "the assault evidence kits... went from 27 1 to 27 5," and "the body worn cameras went from 27 6 to 27 10." He said the property-room evidence-management policy "is brand new," and added, "The ride along policy is a brand new policy. So that's all completely new from beginning to end." He also said the promotion policy was replaced because the changes were extensive.

Chief Cross said the policies are vetted through legal teams, noting KACP, KLC and IACP as sources and that the department forwards copies for review: “They get vetted by the legal teams from KLC... IACP... and Michael generally gets a copy too, you know, for him to review.”

Council members did not take formal action on the policies at the meeting. The mayor asked council members to review the packet and bring questions to the next meeting; the chief and staff said the policies will be on a future agenda for further consideration.

Council discussion clarified who may qualify for ride‑alongs: Chief Cross said ride‑alongs are meant for specific circumstances such as college classes requiring credit, people seriously considering a police career, and participants in the Citizens Police Academy. "If they're in school, like a college course... they can ride along," he said. He emphasized the new written policy will make procedures clearer and more binding for officers.

No ordinance or formal adoption vote was recorded for the policies on July 7.