Three criteria. That is the threshold. Under California DOJ gang validation standards, a subject who meets three of the ten enumerated criteria can be documented as a validated gang member and forwarded to MAGEC for completion of the validation file. This template captures all ten criteria, flags the threshold met, and builds the forwarding documentation in the same record.
The difference between documenting a gang contact correctly and documenting it incorrectly is not about thoroughness — it is about legal defensibility. Each criterion has a boolean field and a corresponding free-text detail field. Criterion 1: ADMITS GANG MEMBERSHIP — yes or no, and if yes, WHAT GANG (structured dropdown plus free text for accuracy). Criterion 2: HAS BEEN ARRESTED WHILE PARTICIPATING IN A CRIME WITH KNOWN GANG MEMBERS — yes or no, and ARREST DETAILS in text. The pattern holds through all ten criteria.
Why Each Criterion Needs Its Own Evidence Field
In a suppression hearing, the question is not whether the officer believed a subject was gang-affiliated. The question is what observable, documentable facts supported that belief at the time of contact. Each of the ten California DOJ criteria maps to a specific observable category:
Criteria 3 and 4 handle informant and source identification — Reliable Informant (3) has a higher threshold than Untested Informant with corroborating information (4). Both have detail fields for the specific informant or source information. The distinction matters for Brady disclosure obligations later in a case.
Criterion 6 — DISPLAYS GANG SYMBOLS AND OR SIGN — has both a free-text describe field and a dedicated SYMBOL OR SIGN PHOTO image field. A photograph of gang regalia documented at point of contact eliminates the ambiguity that a text description alone creates.
Criterion 8 — HAS BEEN WEARING GANG CLOTHING SPECIFIC TO A GANG — feeds back to the clothing documentation section of the contact record. The CLOTHING, HEADWEAR, JACKET/COAT, UPPER BODY, LOWER BODY, and SHOES fields with their associated color and symbol subcategories create the detailed clothing description that supports this criterion.
The Physical Profile Depth
At 89 fields, this template captures the most granular physical description standard in routine law enforcement field contacts.
TATTOO, SCAR, MARK fields include a location multichoice (body area) and a text description, plus two dedicated TATTOO PHOTO image fields. In gang investigations, tattoo documentation is not cosmetic — it is a primary identifier for gang affiliation, set membership, and in some cases rank or criminal history markers that are encoded in the symbology. Getting the tattoo documentation into a searchable, photographable record at time of contact is the difference between a good physical identification record and a description that relies on the officer's recollection months later.
The GLASSES fields — frame type, frame shape, lens color — are included because this template captures everything that changes between contact and potential re-encounter. A subject wearing distinctive blue-light-blocker frame glasses with clear lenses is more identifiable than one described as male, Hispanic, 5'10", medium build with a neck tattoo.
The MAGEC Forwarding Threshold
The final boolean field — HAD 3 OF THE CRITERIA & FORWARD COPY TO MAGEC TO COMPLETE VALIDATION — is the actionable output of the ten-criteria evaluation. It converts the documentation exercise into a workflow step.
When three criteria are checked and the threshold field is flagged yes, the record contains the complete contact profile, the full physical description, the clothing documentation, the gang criteria evidence, and the notes section where the contact narrative is captured. Export to email, copy-paste to RMS, forward to MAGEC. The field officer's documentation work for gang contact reporting is complete in one record.
The NOTES field carries the same function as in the base Police Contacts template — direct statement capture at scene, single entry, single transfer. Combined with the validation checklist, it means the officer is building both the contact narrative and the gang validation documentation simultaneously, without a second pass.