Corporate Records are a valuable asset that must be managed throughout their lifecycle and preserved for future use. The Edmonton Police Commission (Commission) establishes a record and information management framework and procedures to capture, protect, use, and preserve records under their control.
Definitions:
Archival Record: Records that are identified as having historical or research value warranting continued preservation beyond the time they are needed for administrative, legal, or fiscal purposes.
Corporate Record: Information recorded in any form, physical or electronic, which is in the custody or control of the Commission. It is also a record which has been created or received by Commissioners or staff of the Commission in connection with the transaction of public business and preserved as evidence of the organization’s policies, decisions, functions, procedures, operations, or other activities of the Commission. The specific form of records include, but are not limited to, handwritten or printed notes, electronic correspondence or messages, images, audiovisual and sound recordings, documents, drawings, photographs, letters, and any other information that is written, photographed, recorded, or stored in any manner.
Record and Information Management: Field of management responsible for the systematic control of the creation, receipt, maintenance, use, and disposition of corporate records, including processes for capturing and maintaining evidence of, and information about, business activities and transactions in the forms of records.
Records Retention Schedule: Describes the records under the control of the Commission and the associated “keeping” requirements. It identifies statutory and business requirements for document retention and ensures records are disposed of consistently or archived in a timely manner.
Transitory Record: Is a record that does not have long-term value. Transitory records contain information that is not required to meet legal or financial obligations or to sustain administrative or operational functions and have no historical value. Commission transitory records may include, but are not limited to, notes taken to prepare official records or minutes, duplicate records, drafts and working materials, emails that do not solely document a decision or transaction of the Commission, and voice-mail messages.
Vital Record: Recorded information required by the Commission to recover from a disaster, emergency, or loss of information.
Guidelines:
- Management of all corporate records must comply with all business requirements, applicable legislation and corporate records and information management best practices.
- All business processes established by the Commission must meet the requirements setout by the City of Edmonton Corporate Records and Information Management Program and City of Edmonton Archives.
- Vital records must be protected to ensure the continuity of key services and business operations of the Commission in the event of a disaster, emergency, or loss of information.
- Transitory records should not be filed in any official record systems as these records are not required to meet any statutory obligation or to sustain administrative or operational function.
- All records created by the Commission must be classified as per the Commission’s Records Classification System and Retention Schedule.
- The Commission shall maintain a file and document management system that allows for the efficient retrieval of records.
- In the event the Commission is dissolved, all records will go to the Office of the City Clerk and the City of Edmonton will become the record holder.
Procedures:
- The Commission’s Records Classification System and Retention Schedule will be reviewed every five (5) years.
- The Commission shall, by the end of March of every year, attend to the archival and destruction of records as required by the record retention schedule.
References:
- City of Edmonton Corporate Records and Information Management Program
- Edmonton Police Commission Records Classification System and Retention Schedule
- City of Edmonton Archives