Policy Text
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Modoc County SO Policy Manual
LAW ENFORCEMENT CODE OF ETHICS
As a law enforcement officer, my fundamental duty is to serve the community; to safeguard
lives and property; to protect the innocent against deception, the weak against oppression or
intimidation and the peaceful against violence or disorder; and to respect the constitutional rights
of all to liberty, equality and justice.
I will keep my private life unsullied as an example to all and will behave in a manner that does
not bring discredit to me or to my agency. I will maintain courageous calm in the face of danger,
scorn or ridicule; develop self-restraint; and be constantly mindful of the welfare of others. Honest
in thought and deed both in my personal and official life, I will be exemplary in obeying the law
and the regulations of my department. Whatever I see or hear of a confidential nature or that is
confided to me in my official capacity will be kept ever secret unless revelation is necessary in
the performance of my duty.
I will never act officiously or permit personal feelings, prejudices, political beliefs, aspirations,
animosities or friendships to influence my decisions. With no compromise for crime and with
relentless prosecution of criminals, I will enforce the law courteously and appropriately without
fear or favor, malice or ill will, never employing unnecessary force or violence and never accepting
gratuities.
I recognize the badge of my office as a symbol of public faith, and I accept it as a public trust to be
held so long as I am true to the ethics of police service. I will never engage in acts of corruption
or bribery, nor will I condone such acts by other police officers. I will cooperate with all legally
authorized agencies and their representatives in the pursuit of justice.
I know that I alone am responsible for my own standard of professional performance and will take
every reasonable opportunity to enhance and improve my level of knowledge and competence.
I will constantly strive to achieve these objectives and ideals, dedicating myself before God to my
chosen profession . . . law enforcement.
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Modoc County SO Policy Manual
MISSION STATEMENT
It is the Mission of the Modoc County Sheriff's Office in collaboration with our communities,
residents and visitors to keep the peace in Modoc County. We pledge to follow the law enforcement
code of ethics, realizing that we accept our obligations and responsibility to be role models in
the community, to the preservation of basic human rights and individual dignity under the rule
and spirit of the law. Therefore we will hold that our actions shall be professional, reasonable,
ethical and we will perform our duties with compassion. Through our community oriented policing
strategies, we will deliver fair and impartial Law Enforcement, consistent with the spirit and word
of this philosophy, the Constitution of the United States, the laws of the State of California and the
Ordinances of Modoc County. The Office will provide for the care and custody and transportation
of arrested and incarcerated persons and will provide security and process for the Modoc County
Superior Courts.
The Modoc County Sheriff's / Coroner's Office will also professionally and compassionately
with reverence for life, perform the duties of Coroner. These duties include investigation into
the circumstances surrounding all deaths in our jurisdiction, for the purpose of determining the
identification, medical cause, manner, date, time and mechanism.
The Sheriff of Modoc County and the staff of this office, will preserve, protect and defend the
citizens and their property, and individuals who visit Modoc County to the best of our ability
regardless of social status, ethnicity, religion or national origin.
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Modoc County SO Policy Manual
Table of Contents
LAW ENFORCEMENT CODE OF ETHICS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
MISSION STATEMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Chapter 1 - Law Enforcement Role and Authority . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
100 - Law Enforcement Authority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
102 - Chief Executive Officer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
104 - Oath of Office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
106 - Policy Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Chapter 2 - Organization and Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
200 - Organizational Structure and Responsibility . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
204 - Departmental Directive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
206 - Emergency Management Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
208 - Training Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
212 - Electronic Mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
214 - Administrative Communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
216 - Staffing Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
218 - License to Carry a Firearm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
220 - Retiree Concealed Firearms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Chapter 3 - General Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
300 - Use of Force . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
302 - Use of Force Review Boards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
306 - Handcuffing and Restraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
308 - Control Devices and Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
309 - Conducted Energy Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
310 - Officer-Involved Shootings and Deaths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
312 - Firearms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
314 - Vehicle Pursuits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
316 - Deputy Response to Calls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
317 - Animal Control Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
318 - Canines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
320 - Domestic Violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
322 - Search and Seizure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
324 - Temporary Custody of Juveniles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
326 - Adult Abuse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
328 - Discriminatory Harassment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
330 - Child Abuse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
332 - Missing Persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
334 - Public Alerts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
336 - Victim and Witness Assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
338 - Hate Crimes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
340 - Standards of Conduct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
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342 - Information Technology Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
344 - Report Preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
346 - Media Relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
348 - Subpoenas and Court Appearances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
352 - Outside Agency Assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
356 - Registered Offender Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
358 - Major Incident Notification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
360 - Death Investigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
362 - Identity Theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
364 - Private Persons Arrests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
366 - Anti-Reproductive Rights Crimes Reporting . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
368 - Limited En