Death_Investigation

Policy 328CSU Police Department Systemwide Policy Manual Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2025/08/30, All Rights Reserved. Published with permission by CSU Police DepartmentDeath Investigation - 1Death Investigation 328.1 PURPOSE AND SCOPE The purpose of this policy is to provide guidelines for situations where officers initially respond to and investigate the circumstances of a deceased person. Some causes of death may not be readily apparent, and some cases differ substantially from what they appeared to be initially. The thoroughness of death investigations and use of appropriate resources and evidence gathering techniques is critical. 328.2 POLICY It is the policy of the CSU Police Department to respond to, document, and investigate incidents where a person is deceased. Investigations involving the death of a person, including deaths from natural causes, accidents, workplace incidents, suicide, and homicide, shall be initiated, conducted, and properly documented. 328.3 INVESTIGATION CONSIDERATIONS Emergency medical services shall be called in all suspected death cases unless the death is obvious (e.g., decapitated, decomposed). A supervisor shall be notified as soon as possible to assist and provide appropriate personnel and resources. The on-scene supervisor should determine whether follow-up investigation is required and notify the Investigations Division Commander as necessary. The Watch Commander will make notification to command staff in accordance with the Major Incident Notification Policy. 328.3.1 REPORTING All incidents involving a death shall be documented on the appropriate form. 328.3.2 MEDICAL EXAMINER REQUEST Government Code § 27491 and Health and Safety Code § 102850 direct the Medical Examiner to inquire into and determine the circumstances, manner, and cause of certain deaths. The Medical Examiner shall be called in any of the following cases: (a)Unattended deaths (No physician in attendance or during the continued absence of the attending physician. This also includes all deaths outside hospitals and nursing care facilities.) (b)Deaths where the deceased has not been attended by either a physician or a registered nurse who is a member of a hospice care interdisciplinary team, as defined by Health and Safety Code § 1746, in the 20 days prior to death (c)Deaths where the physician is unable to state the cause of death. Unwillingness does not apply. This includes all sudden, unexpected, and unusual deaths, and fetal deaths when the underlying cause is unknown. (d)Known or suspected homicide CSU Police Department Systemwide Policy Manual Death Investigation Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2025/08/30, All Rights Reserved. Published with permission by CSU Police DepartmentDeath Investigation - 2(e)Known or suspected suicide (including suicide where the deceased has a history of being victimized by domestic violence) (f)Deaths involving any criminal action or suspicion of a criminal act. This includes child and dependent adult negligence and abuse. (g)Deaths related to or following known or suspected self-induced or criminal abortion (h)Deaths associated with a known or alleged rape or crime against nature (i)Deaths following an accident or injury (primary or contributory). This includes deaths known or suspected as resulting (in whole or in part) from or related to accident or injury, either old or recent. (j)Deaths from drowning, fire, hanging, gunshot, stabbing, cutting, starvation, exposure, alcoholism, drug addiction, strangulation, or aspiration (k)Deaths from accidental poisoning (e.g., food, chemical, drug, therapeutic agents) (l)Deaths from occupational diseases or occupational hazards (m)Deaths from known or suspected contagious disease and constituting a public hazard (n)All deaths in operating rooms and all deaths where a patient has not fully recovered from an anesthetic, whether in surgery, recovery room, or elsewhere (o)Deaths that occur in prison or while under sentence. This includes all in-custody and police-involved deaths. (p)All deaths of unidentified persons (q)All deaths of state hospital patients (r)Suspected Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) deaths (s)All deaths where the patient is comatose throughout the period of the physician's attendance. This includes patients that are admitted to hospitals unresponsive and expire without regaining consciousness. The body shall not be disturbed or moved from the position or place of death without permission of the Medical Examiner. 328.3.3 SEARCHING DEAD BODIES (a)The Medical Examiner or a designee is generally the only person permitted to search a body known to be dead from any of the circumstances set forth in Government Code § 27491. The only exception is that an officer is permitted to search the body of a person killed in a traffic collision for the limited purpose of locating an anatomical donor card. If such a donor card is located, the Medical Examiner or a designee shall be promptly notified (Government Code § 27491.3). (b)The Medical Examiner, with the permission of the Department, may take property, objects, or articles found on the deceased or in the immediate vicinity of the deceased that may be necessary for conducting an investigation to determine the identity of the deceased or the cause or manner of death (Government Code § 27491.3). CSU Police Department Systemwide Policy Manual Death Investigation Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2025/08/30, All Rights Reserved. Published with permission by CSU Police DepartmentDeath Investigation - 3(c)Should exigent circumstances indicate to an officer that any other search of a known dead body is warranted prior to the arrival of the Medical Examiner or a designee, the investigating officer should first obtain