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Sheriff Jerry L. Demings ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM July 17, 2017 TO: Sheriff Jerry L. Demings VIA: Chain of Command FROM: Captain Joseph E. Carter SUBJECT: Administrative Services Bureau Support Services Division Quality Assurance Section Citizens Advisory Committee / Recommendation on Use of Force The Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) was charged with reviewing the Orange County Sheriff's Office's (OCSO) policy and practice of use of force, specifically shooting into or at moving vehicles. Your charge to the committee requested the review of current operations and policies compared with those of the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) and International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP). The review of this element within our Use of Force policy received a thorough review of the suggested policies from PERF and IACP, our current Use of Force policy GO 8.1.6, recommendations from the previous CAC review and the previous Use of Force policy in place before the first CAC review. The Quality Assurance Section and Captain Todd Gardiner facilitated the review of the material. The CAC review revealed our current policy matched the PERF and IACP suggested policies' benchmarks for this particular occurrence. The CAC did want to emphasize the importance of proper positioning during these events and suggested an amendment to our policy to stress this importance. The reasoning behind their proposed change is to increase the safety of our community and our deputies. The letter of recommendation from the CAC is attached for your review and acceptance. J.E.C. CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE SHERIFF JERRY L. DEMINGS July 11, 2017 Sheriff Jerry L. Demings Orange County Sheriff's Office 2500 West Colonial Drive Orlando, Florida 32804 Dear Sheriff Demings: On May 11, 2017, you charged your Citizens Advisory Committee with reviewing the Orange County Sheriff's Office's (OCSO) policy and practice of use of force, specifically shooting into or at moving vehicles. Your charge requested the review of current operations and policies compared with those of the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) and International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP). Citizens of Orange County were allowed to present their views and thoughts through the public comments at the meetings. During the presentations and review, several documents were analyzed and discussed. Recommendations made by the previous members of the Citizens Advisory Committee in 2011 • OCSO policy that was in place before 2011 CAC recommendations • OCSO Policy that was effective after 2011 CAC recommendations • PERF Recommended Use of Force Policy IACP Recommended Use of Force Policy . Current OCSO Use of Force Policy Captain Todd Gardiner present as subject matter expert The review and comparison of your current OCSO policy with PERF and IACP recommended policies reveal the OCSO policy met all national industry standards or benchmarks suggested by PERF and IACP. Our recommendation below is to emphasize the importance of the community's and your deputies' safety by stressing the appropriate location of deputies during these stressful incidents. Citizens Advisory Committee Recommendation Letter July 12, 2017 Page 2 The Citizens Advisory Committee recommends the addition of the underlined statement below within the OCSO Use of Force Policy GO 8.1.6. • Recommendation: Q. Members of the agency are not authorized to: 4. Discharge their weapons at or into a moving vehicle unless it is absolutely necessary to do so to protect against an imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm to the deputy or others. Shooting at or into a moving vehicle can be ineffective and should only be considered as a last resort to protect the deputy or another from an imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm. Deputies should consider all other reasonable means of defense to include but not limited to moving out of the path of a moving vehicle. Deadly force may be justified when a suspect rams, attempts to ram or uses a vehicle to engage in conduct that poses an imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm to the deputy or others. A deputy must be able to articulate that an imminent danger exists and that the suspects' actions did not result in incidental or accidental contact between vehicles. Respectfully Submitted, Mela de Pale Melinda Poole, Chair OCSO Citizens Advisory Committee Cc: Committee members Captain Joe Carter