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ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE GENERAL ORDER Effective Date: December 8, 2022  Amends - GO 7.1.6 ( December 8, 2021 ) Number: 7.1.6 Distribution: All Personnel Review Month: September Reviewing Authority: CID / General Assignment Subject: Towing Vehicles This order consists of the following: 1. Purpose 2. Policy 3. Definitions 4. Procedures 1. Purpose The purpose of this policy is to provide guidelines to uniformly deal with, handle and tow illegally parked, abandoned, and recovered stolen vehicles and to promote cooperation between the Orange County Sheriff's Office and other law enforcement agencies. 2. Policy It is the policy of the agency that vehicles are towed and removed from the roadways in accordance with agency contracts an d applicable law. 3. Definitions Abandoned Vehicle - any vehicle which does not have an identifiable owner and which has been disposed of on public property in a wrecked, inoperative, or partially dismantled condition or which has no intrinsic value to th e rightful owner. Automated Dispatch Towing System – a system (AutoReturn) designed to imp rove tow service response times. The system will dispatch a contracted tow service using a pre - approved list of authorized tow companies. 4. Procedures A. Orange County Sheriff's Office personnel shall recover stolen vehicles in accordance with the following procedures: 1. No Arrest Made a. Orange County Sheriff's Office Authority 1. If the vehicl e is recovered in unincorporated Orange County, agency personnel shall attempt to release the vehicle to the registered owner if available, or tow the vehicle and complete the appropriate paperwork. 2. The vehicle will be released to the registered owner, if available. If the owner is not available, the contract wrecker will be dispatched, via the automated dispatch towing system. 3. If the vehicle is recovered within another jurisdiction within Orange Co unty, that agency will handle the recovery . 7.1.6, Page 2 of 11 b. Other Law Enforcement Agency Authority recovered within unincorporated Orange County 1. Orange County personnel shall complete the recovery and appropriate paperwork i f the vehicle is located in unincorporated Ora nge County by agency personnel . 2. The vehicle will be released to the registered owner, if available. 3. If the owner is not available, the contract wrecker will be dispatched, via the automated dispatch towing system. 2. Arrest Made a. If the vehicle is recovere d in unincorporated Orange County, the entire case will be handled by agency personnel . If linked to a major offense, the appropriate other agency detective shall be notified. b. If recovered within the city limits of a municipality within Orange County, the recovering agency will handle the entire case. If linked to a major offense, the appropriate Orange County Sheriff's Office detective shall be notified. B. Forms 1. An Incident /Supplemental Report will be completed by all law enforcement personnel within Orange County, detailing the stolen vehicle(s) recovery information. This form will be utilized regardless of the jurisdiction from which the vehicle was stolen. 2. All case number(s) relating to the incident will be included in the Incident/Supplemental Report, including case number(s) from all involved agencies. D. Processing of Recovered Stolen Vehicles 1. Any recovered vehicle that was either entered as stolen under Orange County Sheriff’s Office authority, or is a suspect vehicle, and was involved in any of the following listed crimes, will be processed by the Orange County Sheriff's Office Forensic Squad. a. Homicide b. Robbery c. Carjacking d. Home Invasion e. Sexual Battery f. Kidnapping g. Any time the assigned detective requests the vehicle be p rocessed. 2. Circumstances may dictate that the towing and processing of vehicles recovered outside of Orange County be completed by another law enforcement agency at the direction of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office case detective and/or crime scene in vestigator. The towing and processing of these vehicles will be determined on a case -by-case basis. 7.1.6, Page 3 of 11 3. All other Orange County Sheriff's Office authority recovered stolen vehicles will be processed by the Deputy Sheriff who recovers the vehicle unless it is determined that crime scene contamination will prohibit the effective processing of the vehicle. 4. All other law enforcement agency (within Orange County) stolen vehicles recovered will be processed by forensics personnel from the agency of authori ty if deemed necessary by the agency of authority. It will be incumbent upon the other law enforcement agency to notify, via Teletype, the Orange County Sheriff's Office of their intention to proce ss the recovered stolen vehicle; otherwise the deputy on t he scene shall process the vehicle regardless of whose authority it is. E. Notification of Owner of Recovered Stolen Vehicles 1. Orange County Sheriff's Office Authority a. If the recovered stolen vehicle can be safely driven on the road, the Orange County Sheriff's Office Communications shall attempt to notify the vehicle owner to respond to the scene to take custody of the vehicle, provided the owner can respond within thir ty (30) minutes. The vehicle owner must produce appropriate documents to show legal ownership of the vehicle and the release of the vehicle will be documented