Policy Text
MOUNTAIN VIEW POLICE DEPARTMENT
OPERATIONAL SERVICES UNIT
TRAINING AND INFORMATION
BULLETIN
PAGE 1 OF 2
CONFIDENTIAL FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT USE ONLY
2022
DATE: 3-3-2022
BULLETIN NUMBER: 22-002
SUBJECT: Fentanyl Overdose Death Response for Patrol
INFORMATION:
Santa Clara County has been experiencing an in flux of overdoses specifically related to
Fentanyl distribution of counterfeit M30 p ills, counterfeit Oxycodone pills, counterfeit
Xanax, tainted cocaine, and tainted methamph etamine. It is important that responding
officers do not treat these Fentanyl overdose calls as just medical response calls or
simple coroner’s cases. If the person who sold the Fentanyl to the victim is identified
and evidence is collected, charges up to and including homicide can be filed against the
drug dealer.
Fentanyl Deaths in Santa Clara County continue to rise (2018- 11 deaths, 2019- 27
deaths, 2020- 88 deaths, and 2021- 106 deaths). These deaths should be thought of as
poisonings, not overdoses, for investigative purposes. The victims have no intention of
dying and are often unaware that the substa nce they are ingesting contains Fentanyl.
Many of the drug dealers are advertising their drugs as clean and not containing
Fentanyl. Some even go so far as to send th e buyer a picture of a negative Fentanyl test.
When officers are responding to a call for serv ice of a deceased person and it is believed
a Fentanyl overdose occurred, they shou ld evaluate the need for the following:
Suicide or accidental overdose, if deemed a suicide no further action is needed
regarding a Fentanyl overdose response
Seize any cellular phones owned by the vi ctim as evidence, obtain the passcode
and place them in airplane mode, disabl e Wi-Fi and disable Bluetooth if possible
Attempt to obtain consent to search seized cellular phones from anyone present
Obtain usernames and passwords for any of the victim’s social media accounts
Obtain victim’s email account names and passwords
Interview all people present to obtain background information on the
victim/decedent and to identify a possible source of the drugs
First time/long time user
First overdose or priors
What drug did the victim intend to ingest
Document and collect any other narcotics found at the scene
MOUNTAIN VIEW POLICE DEPARTMENT
OPERATIONAL SERVICES UNIT
TRAINING AND INFORMATION
BULLETIN
PAGE 2 OF 2
CONFIDENTIAL FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT USE ONLY
2022
Supervisors should:
Respond to the scene
Evaluate the need to immediately cont act SCCSET, CSU, or CAP supervisor
At a minimum, a synopsis email should be sent to SCCSET, CSU, and CAP to
make them aware of the case (i.e.; ov ernight hours when a phone call is not
deemed immediately necessary)
Evaluate the need for detectives to de-brief or interview anyone willing to
cooperate in follow-up for drug sales cases
Forward any reports to SCCSET an d CAP for tracking and follow-up
investigation when a Fentanyl overdo se resulting in death has occurred
Prepared by: Lt. St.Clair
Approved by: Chief Hsiung