Policy Text
MOUNTAIN VIEW POLICE DEPARTMENT
FIELD OPERATIONS DIVISION
TRAINING AND INFORMATION
BULLETIN
CONFIDENTIAL • FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT USE ONLY PAGE 1 OF 13
2023
DATE:
BULLETI
N NUMBER:
SUBJECT: June 29, 2023
23-08 Miranda Warnings
INFORMATION:
In accor
dance with Mou ntain View Police Department (MVPD) Policy 600, Suspects who are in custody
and subjected to an interrogation shall be given the Miranda warning, unless an exception applies.
Interview or interrogation of a juvenile shall be in accordance with the Temporary Custody of Juveniles
Policy (MVPD Policy 324).
MVPD
Procedures for Miranda Warnings are located in the MVPD Handbook and detailed below. Failure
to properly administer, and document, a Miranda warning may result in violation of MVPD Policy and
jeopardize criminal prosecution.
Plea
se review the following:
•MVPD Policy 600.3 - Investigation and Prosecution (Attached)
•MVPD Handbook
Miranda section, Pages 24-26 (Attached)
•Legal Sourcebook Miranda Examples (Attached)
Parti
cular attention should be on the following areas:
•Situ
ations where Miranda i s required
•Miranda with a handcuffed suspect
•Documenting Miranda or any exception in a police report
•Sergeants: Ensuring Miranda procedures are followed and are documented is police reports
INSTRUCT
IONS :
Offi
cers/Detectives: Please review this T rainin g Bulletin and attachments. Seek clarification from your
Sergeant regarding questions you may have.
Sergean
ts: Please review with officers/detectives assigned to your team and compl ete the Briefing Training
form documenting the training. Training s hould be completed and forms submitted by Monday July 17th.
Prepa
red by: Captain Scott Nelson
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Miranda: Detentions and actions that convert detentions to Miranda Custody
Obviously, you do not need to give Miranda warnings to someone who is talking to you of his
own free will, i.e., during a "consensual encounter" (see Ch. 2). (Epperson (1986) 187
Cal.App.3d 115, 119.)
Likewise, it is normally true that you do not need to give Miranda warnings prior to questioning
a suspect who simply is being detained (as opposed to arrested) --even though a detainee is not
free to leave. Miranda "custody" general ly "does not include 'a temporary detention for
investigation' where an officer detains a person to ask a moderate number of questions to
determine his identity and to try to obtain information confirming or dispelling the officer's suspicions." ( Farnam (2002) 28 Cal.4th 107, 180; Shatzer (2010) 559 U.S. 98, 113 ["the
temporary and relatively nonthreatening detention involved in a traffic stop or Terry stop" is not
"Miranda custody"].)
Often at a suppression hearing, a defense attorney will ask an officer if the defendant was "free to leave." When the officer responds "no" (which is the true and correct answer), the defense
attorney will try to get the officer to say that the defendant was in "custody." You can avoid this trap, however, by (1) focusing on the difference between an "arrest" and a "detention" (see Ch. 2), (2) using the correct terminology during your testimony, and (3) recognizing that even a detainee is not free to leave. For example, your response to the defense
attorney's question might be: "No, he was not free to leave until I finished investigating the
situation. However, he was only being detained; he was not under arrest [or in custody] at the
time."
Indeed, in Miranda itself, the United States Supreme Court stated that warnings ne ed not be
given before "[g]eneral on -the-scene questioning as to facts surrounding a
crime." (Miranda (1966) 384 U.S. 436, 477.)
California courts agree that officers are not required to give warnings during the investigatory stage while obtaining information from someone later accused of the crime. (Epperson (1986)
187 Cal.App.3d 115, 119; see also Vickers (9th Cir. 1998) 144 F.3d 613.) General inquiries
"essentially 'limited to the purpose of identifying a person found under suspicious circumstances or near the scene of a recent crime'" do not require Miranda warnings. (Clair (1992) 2 Cal.4th
629, 679-680; Farnam (2002) 28 Cal.4th 107, 180.)
Example: The mother of an injured and motionless child was questioned briefly in front of her
home about how the child's injuries were sustained and was asked to accompany the officer to the hospital to be available to give permission for any necessary medical procedures. Miranda warnings were not required. ( Salinas (1982) 131 Cal.App.3d 925, 935-
937.)
Exampl e: A uniformed officer, ordered to detain Vasquez for apparently selling dope, did not
need to give advisements before asking him whether he was selling dope and where his