739947

ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE GENERAL ORDER Effective Date: December 18, 2015  Amends - NEW Number: 16.1.16 Distribution: All Personnel Review Month: February Reviewing Authority: SOD / Narcotics Subject: Event Deconfliction This order consists of the following: 1. Purpose 2. Policy 3. Definitions 4. Procedures 1. Purpose The purpose of this policy is to provide direction on even t deconfliction when executing planned narcotics and/or vice investigation s. 2. Policy It shall be agency p olicy to use a formal e vent deconfliction system in an attempt to avoid dangerous confrontations or unintentional consequences between agency members or other law enforcement agencies conducting planned narcotics and/or vice investigations 3. Definitions A. Case Explorer - A web -based program maintained by High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area ( HIDTA) and designed for information sharing in the law enforcement community . The case management component of the program is a n investigative tool for case and subjec t deconfliction. The event information component is a tactical tool for event deconfliction in specified operational environments. B. Case/Subject Deconfliction – the process of identifying items such as, people, places, vehicles, or weapons common to diffe rent investigative cases to promote safety and mitigate the duplication of investigative efforts. C. Event Deconfliction - the process of determining when law enforcement personnel are conducting operations in close proximity and time to support officer safet y and avoid unknowingly targeting or compromising another investigation, such as an undercover opera tion, a surveillance , or the execution of a search warrant . 4. Procedures A. Case Explorer will be used in the initial phase of any planned narc otics and/or vice investigation and updated as necessary, as information is developed. The types of operations to be entered into Case Explorer include but are not limited to long- term investigations, buy -busts, reverses, undercover operations and the execution of search warrants. 16.1.16, Page 2 of 3 B. Agency personnel shall complete approved training prior to accessing or entering data into Case Explorer. C. Case Agent Responsibilities 1. In the initial phase of an y planned narcotics and/or vice investigation or in preparation for a search warrant , the case agent shall initiate an event entry to include: a. Start d ate and time of a planned operation . b. End date and time of a planned operation . c. Type of operation . d. Location of operati on, including any staging areas . e. Suspect information including full names, dates of birth or aliases, if known . f. Suspect vehicle information . g. Associated locations that may be part of the operation. h. Lead and participating agen cies. i. Name and agency o f the person entering the operation, including cellular telephone number for case agent , along with a secondary agent’s point of contac t. j. A deconfliction radius of 280 feet unless it is operationally necessary to specify a different radius . 2. Event Entries will be made via the web based program . Entries will be made a minimum of two hours prior to an operation. Any deviation requires the approval of a Lieutenant or above . 3. If the case agent is notified of a case or event conflict, the agent shall contact his or her counterpart, with whom the conflict exists, to attempt to resolve the conflict. The case agent shall notify his or her supervisor of all conflicts. Investigating personnel shall not execute any operations until the identified conflicts have been resolved. 4. Event Entries will remain open in the system for the duration of the selected date range. The case agent may select a reminder tool that will generate an email 24 hours prior to the selected end date warning the event will expire . The email will be sent to the case agent and the case agent’s supervisor. The case agent shall refresh the entry as necessary and close the entry at the end of the investigation. D. Supervisor Responsibilities 1. Monitor narcotics and/or vice cases and operations to verify entries into Case Explorer are made. 2. Notify the chain of c ommand if a conflict with another investigative entity or agency cannot be resolved. E. Administration and Training 16.1.16, Page 3 of 3 1. The Narcotics Section Commander, or designee, shall be the agency coordinator for Case Explorer. 2. The Narcotics Section Commander, or desig nee, is responsible for coordinating training for agency personnel with HIDTA. 3. The HIDTA Watch Center may be contacted at 301 -489-1744 or CaseExplorer@wb.hidta.org for administrative issues.