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ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE GENERAL ORDER Effective Date: November 6, 2025  Amends - GO 8.1.7 (March 6, 2025 ) Number : 8.1.7 Distribution: All Personnel Review Month: May Reviewing Authority: HRD / Training Subject: Vehicle Apprehension / Pursuit This order consists of the following: 1. Purpose 2. Policy 3. Definitions 4. Procedures 1. Purpose The purpose of this policy is to establish guidelines for vehicle apprehensions and pursuits. 2. Policy The agency will make every reasonable effort to stop violators. The protection of life, both civilian and law enforcement, is the foremost concern that governs this policy. Deputies must balance the need to stop a suspect against the potential threat to themselves and the public created by a pursuit or apprehension. 3. Definitions A. Active Participants – All deputies who directly follow a vehicle pursuit or take overt action to stop the vehicle . B. Agency -Approved Training – Any training approved by the agency’s Training Section Commander or verified, successful completion of equivalent training from an agency that is sanctioned by the Training Section Commander or designee. C. All-Terrain Vehicle ( ATV) – Any motorized off -highway vehicle 55 inches or less in width which has a dry weight of 1,500 pounds or less, is designed to travel on three or more nonhighway tires, and is manufactured for re creational use by one or more persons, as defined by FS 316.2074 . D. Compliance – A condition met when a suspect vehicle is placed in park, the engine turned off, and, when feasible, the keys removed from the ignition and discarded from the vehicle . E. Controlled Contact – Intentional contact , as part of a tactical park, with a suspect vehicle by an agency vehicle at speeds of approximately 10 miles per hour or less. F. Diversionary Traffic Stop – A system of covert vehicle maneuvers, utilizing a minimum of three unmarked vehicles being driven by trained , sworn personne l resulting in the immobilization of the target vehicle. 8.1.7, Page 2 of 20 G. Electronic Tracking – Equipment that is in a vehicle that allows it to be tracked from a remote location. This is either done through a proprietary means or by the use of GPS satellites or som e other combination. H. Elude - It is unlawful for the operator of any vehicle, having knowledge that he or she has been ordered to stop such vehicle by a duly authorized law enforcement officer, willfully to refuse or fail to stop the vehicle in compl iance with such order or, having stopped in knowing compliance with such order, willfully to flee in an attempt to elude the officer as defined by FS 316.1935 . For the purpose of this policy, this could occur at any speed. I. Exigent Circumstances – Those situations that fal l outside the normal scope of operation or policy and require immediate aid or action. In exigent circumstances, if authorized by a Watch Commander or above, a deputy may pursue only if there is a reasonable belief that the continuing conduct of the viola tor presents an immediate and life threatening danger to the public, agency personnel, or the violator. J. Motor Vehicle – An automobile, motorcycle, truck, truck tractor (with or without a semitrailer ), motor home, motor coach, ATV, golf cart, moped, motorized scooter , or any other vehicle operated on roadways designed for the transport persons or property, and propelled by power other than muscular power . K. Paralleling – Following a similar course as the suspect by operating on adjacent roads to where the suspect is driving . L. Primary Pursuit Vehicle – The authorized emergency unit that is immediately behind the suspect in a vehicle pursuit . Also referred to as “vehicle one.” M. Pursuit Intervention Technique (PIT) – A trained technique that involves an intentional act of using a n agency vehicle to physically force a fleeing vehicle from a course of travel in order to end a pursuit . N. Reasonable Suspicion – Knowledge sufficient to induce an ordinarily prudent and cautious deputy to believe criminal activity is at hand. It must be based on specific and articulable facts which taken together with rational inferences from those facts, reasonably warrant intrusion (per GO 7.1.1). O. Serious Bodily Injury – A physical condition which creates a substantial risk of death, serious personal disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ. P. Supporting Pursuit Vehicle s – The authorized emergency unit s that follow the primary pursuit vehicle during a vehicle pursuit. Q. Stationary Roadblock (Channelization) – A tactic designed to offer a limited path 8.1.7, Page 3 of 20 of travel to a moving violator vehicle. R. Tactical Park – The coordinated positioning of at least two or three agency vehicles, marked or unmarked, to prevent a suspect vehicle from fleeing, by application of a controlled contact with a suspect vehicle’s bumper by one or two agency vehicles. S. Termination – When agency members discontinue the attempt to stop and/or apprehend a suspect vehicle. T. Tire Deflation Devices – Equipment designed to be placed in the path of an oncoming