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ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE GENERAL ORDER Effective Date: May 1, 2015  Amends - GO 4.7.1 (January 25, 2010) Number: 4.7.1 Distribution: All Personnel Review Month: June Reviewing Authority: SSD / Community Relations Subject: Charitable Activities This policy consists of the following: 1. Purpose 2. Policy 3. Definitions 4. Procedures 1. Purpose The purpose of this directive is to define the scope of involvement of agency personnel and resources in charitable activities. 2. Policy It shall be the polic y of the agency to verify that support of charitable activities is compatible with, and does not impede, our effective and efficient delivery of law enforcement services to the community. This directive does not pertain to volunteer activities performed b y agency personnel on their own time, without acknowledging their affiliation with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office. 3. Definitions A. Charitable Activity – any activity where agency personnel, equipment, resources, supplies, or vehicles are used to suppor t, promote, solicit for, or otherwise monetarily benefit any charity, community organization, school, or religious activity. This directive will only apply to personnel acting on behalf of the agency or as a result of their affiliation with the Orange Cou nty Sheriff’s Office . 4. Procedures A. Enforcement Related Activity 1. Agency personnel may volunteer to assist charities, community organizations, schools, or religious organizations by performing duties that would normally fall within the scope of enforcement re lated off -duty employment. This activity is not compensated by the Agency and must be approved by the Sheriff or designee. 2. All enforcement related duties performed, although non -compensated, will comply with GO 4.3.1, “Off -Duty Employment,” to include obtaining a permit number. 3. Should any compensation be received by an agency member performing enforcement related activities for a charitable organization, the off -duty 4.7.1 , Page 2 of 3 reimbursement fee will be paid as provided for in GO 4.3.1. B. Designated Charity Campaign 1. The Sheriff shall approve agency wide solicitations . Charitable payroll deductions are limited to those charitable organizations identified by the Sheriff . a. The distribution organization must have the ability to include IRS recognized charities as designated by the Sheriff. b. The Community Relations Section Special Projects Unit shall coordinate the annual fundrais ing campaign. c. Payroll deductions will commence during January following the campaign. C. Solicitations and Charitable Events 1. Solicitations a. Personnel will not solicit for charitable activities utilizing their official position with the agency prio r to receiving written approval from the Sheriff or designee. b. All solicitations will be conducted within applicable law. c. All solicitations will be conducted within the guidelines Commission on Ethics. 1. Agency employees will not contact businesses t o solicit donations, if the businesses meet the following criteria: a. They have an active contract with the Sheriff’s Office. b. They have bid for a contract with the Sheriff’s Office within the last 12 months and were not rewarded the contract. c. They c ontacted the Sheriff’s Office within the last 12 months regarding a business arrangement, such as continuing off -duty, requesting more patrols around their physical location, or asking the Sheriff to take any kind of action. This includes any person paid by the business contacting the Sheriff on behalf of the business to have the Sheriff take any kind of action. 2. If the Sheriff’s Office has had no contract or no interface with a business within the last 12 months, agency employees may contact the entity to solicit donations. This would not be an ethics violation assuming no quid pro quo arrangement was made. d. Contributions solicited for a valid public purpose may be tax deductible (e.g., the purchase or donation of equipment). The contributor must see k advice from a qualified tax preparer to determine the amount that may be deducted. e. Contributions for individuals or families are not tax deductible according to the IRS tax code since it is not a valid public purpose. 2. The distributions of funds ra ised will be determined prior to the event. 3. Agency personnel who wish to participate with Division or Section wide 4.7.1 , Page 3 of 3 charitable events (i.e., Heart Walk and Jail and Bail) must submit a memorandum to the Sheriff , via their Division Commander, for review and approval. The affected Division Commander shall provide written response to the requestor. a. The memorandum will contain the name, address, phone number, and contact person for the charitable organization, the purpose of the event, the period of time the event is expected to continue, the extent of the involvement of the agency member, and the expected impact on agency work time or resources. 4. Requests for small fundraising events (i.e., bake sale or lunch sale) may be approved by the affected Divi sion Commander. 5. The Senior Staff will designate a captain, captain equivalent or higher, to chair all agency wide events. 6. The Community Relations Services Section Special Projects Unit shall provide technical support for all charitable events to confirm solicitation practices are consistent and provide recommendations to the event chair.