Council Approves Destruction of Old Public Works and Police Records

Among the business conducted at Tuesday night's municipal council meeting at Norristown Municipal Hall, council voted to approve two resolutions allowing for the destruction of old records from the Norristown Police and Public Works departments.

According to the municipality's solicitor, Sean Kilkenny, the destruction of the records is in accordance with guidelines for records retention set out by the state in the Municipal Records Manual.

Records recommended for destruction by the Public Works Department include:

• Street opening permits from 2004 to 2006.
• Dumpster, scaffolding, street closure, utility pole and tronsportation of oversized load permits from 2004 to 2008.
• Parking sticker information from 1991 to 1992.
• Duplicate copies of bridge inspection reports from 2003 to 2010.
• Invoices from 2010.

Records recommended for destruction by the Norristown Police Department include:

• Cell intake forms from 2006 to 2008.
• Citations (traffic and non-traffic) from 2005 to 2008.
• Crash reports from 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2006.
• Juvenile incident reports from 1972 and prior.
• Tow reports from 2004 to 2009.
• Parking tickets from 2003 to 2007.
• Duty rosters and line-up forms from 2005 to 2008.
• Attendance logs and time sheets from 2005 to 2007.
• Attendance controllers from 2001 to 2006.
• Boot removal receipts and delinquent ticket payments from 2006 to 2007.
• Prisoner property receipts from 2003.
• Uniform crime report worksheets from 2003 to 2006.
• Abandoned vehicle 952 forms and letters from 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2009.
• National Crime Information Center (NCIC) and Commonwealth Law Enforcement Assistance Network (CLEAN) cancellations from 2007 to 2008.
• Adult court case files from 1989 to 1991.
• Juvenile court case files from 1984 to 1988.
• Copies of fire incident reports from 2003.
• Administrative training materials from 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2006.
• Warrant recalls 2006 to 2008.
• Daily holding cell inspection forms from 2007 to 2008.
• Weekly holding cell inspection sheets from 2003 to 2006.
• Criminal history requests from 2007 to 2009.
• Juvenile contact cards from 1989 and prior.

During the communications portion of the agenda, council clerk Roseann Santangelo read a letter from resident Mary Ellen DiGregorio asking council to suspend any further records destruction from any department until the matter of 770 Sandy Street is resolved and the homeowners take possession of the property.

"I'm not sure what the Municipality of Norristown records retention policy is, I do however feel that this is the first council that I can recall ever destroying municipal records," read Santangelo. "Council was asked that these records be microfiched or digitally stored. Council claimed they were not important records to be placed into that process. It's most suspicious then when the 770 Sandy Street debacle happened, the municipality and its elected officials explained that they could not find the planning documents. This is unacceptable practice for a community government."

"These documents are looked at," Council president Gary Simpson said of the records slated for destruction. "They're usually things that are very much outdated that have nothing to do with any projects that are current."

In a related matter concerning 770 Sandy Street, council opened the agenda to add a motion to appoint of the legal firm of Trujillo Rodriguez & Richards, LLC of Philadelphia and New Jersey to handle litigation relating to 770 Sandy Street. The motion passed unanimously.