Policy Text
\n\n--- Page 1 ---\n\nGAINESVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT
GENERAL ORDER
TITLE ACCREDITATION
Investigative Task Forces CALEA 42.2.4 (a-f)
PRIOR REVISIONS
PROPONENT UNIT
Criminal Investigations Division
ATTACHMENT: 0
NUMBER ISSUE DATE REVISION DATE TOTAL PAGES
42.3 07/01/98 03/13/19 2
I. PURPOSE: This Order develops a policy for establishing investigative task forces, whether internal to the
department or external, in cooperation with other local, state, and/or federal agencies.
II. POLICY: To engage in specialized investigations, the Gainesville Police Department shall form task forces,
whenever necessary, to enable the Department to conduct criminal investigations.
III. DEFINITION/PURPOSE:
Internal Task Force: is a multi-person unit that is temporarily formed for the purpose of conducting an
investigation into a specific incident or series of incidents.
External Task Force: is created with other local, state, and/or federal agencies in an effort to conduct long
term investigations.
IV. PROCEDURE:
A. Formation Criteria: Task forces may be formed when certain conditions exist, such as:
1. A serious crime (e.g., murder, sexual assault) or a series of related crimes (e.g., robbery)
occurring;
2. An extensive crime problem crossing jurisdictional boundaries;
3. An investigation requiring a broad range of resources.
B. Authorization:
1. INTERNAL: Bureau commanders shall have the authority to form task forces comprised of
individuals within their respective bureau.
i. The Chief must approve a task force comprised of individuals from different bureaus or
from different agencies or departments.
ii. The bureau commander or Chief (whichever is applicable) shall appoint a task force
commander, who is responsible and accountable for the activity of the task force.
2. EXTERNAL: The Chief must approve the inclusion of Gainesville Police members in a multi-
jurisdictional Task Force that may include either other local agencies (i.e. Alachua Sheriff’s\n\n--- Page 2 ---\n\nGAINESVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT
Office) or State/ Federal Agencies (i.e. Florida Department of Law Enforcement or the Federal
Bureau of Investigation.)
i. All external task forces must have a written Memorandum of Understanding between
the partners that define authority and responsibilities of each party involved.
ii. Any assigned department member to an external task force shall have a GPD
supervisor he/she reports to. It is the responsibility of each GPD task force participant to
keep his/her chain of command aware of their duties.
C. Evaluation:
1. INTERNAL: The task force commander shall be responsible for continuously assessing the
activity of the task force and periodically evaluating the results to determine the need for
modification or termination of the operation. A documented evaluation shall occur every year.
2. EXTERNAL: It is the responsibility of the Bureau Commander under to whom the
department member reports to assess the effectiveness of the department’s ongoing
participation in an external task force. The results of the task force as well as the need for
continued operation shall be evaluated. A documented evaluation shall occur in the month of
April every two years.
D. Staffing, Equipment, and Resources:
1. STAFFING: staffing levels for any task force, whether internal or external, will be decided by
the Chief/ Designee.
2. EQUIPMENT: equipment needs will be determined by the Bureau Commander.
3. RESOURCE REQUIRMENT: all resource requests will be forwarded to the Bureau
Commander for review.
E. Officer Safety Information:
1. INTERNAL: all members working an internal task force will follow all Department policies
and procedures involving officer safety and use-of-force.
2. EXTERNAL: all members working with an external task force will still adhere to all
Department policies and procedures involving officer safety and use-of-force.
External members shall also train with their task force members in high liability areas as
proscribed by the task force commander, whether an GPD member or not.
F. Selection process: – see G.O. 16.2 – Specialized and Acting Assignments.
__________________________
By Order of
Signed Original on File in the
Accreditation Unit
__________________________
Tony R. Jones
Chief of Police
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