Policy Text
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DISPATCHING CRIME SCENE IN VESTIGATORS AND ID UNITS
The purpose of this order is to outline the procedures for disp atching Crime Scene
Investigation (CSI) and I dentification (ID) Units.
I. General
A. ID units are used solely for follow-up investigation at resi dential and
business burglary crime scenes.
1. At the direction of the CSI s upervisor, or their designee, I D units
may assist CSI at other crime scenes.
B. CSI units are responsible fo r processing any crime scene.
1. Burglary calls requiring follo w-up investigation should not be held
for ID units if CSI uni ts are available for immediate dispatch.
2. CSI units will not be dispatc hed to burglary calls in the De lta area.
These requests are handled ex clusively by the ID units.
II. Requests for CSI or ID Follow Up
A. Communications personnel wri ting a telephone report for a ci tizen/victim
reporting a felony when the nece ssary CSI or ID response protoc ol has
been met.
B. Any deputy investigating a fe lony when resources available o nly to a CSI
or ID unit are required, or in any case (including misdemeanor crimes)
when a supervisor approves the request.
C. Any supervisory or management personnel.
III. Priority CSI and ID Events
A. All CSI and ID events shall be dispatched as priority three through priority
five calls. The priority shall be determined by the requesting officer based
on crime classification and t he ability to adequately protect t he scene or
preserve evidence. Patrol or Co mmunications supervisors may cla ssify
any call as a priority three call.
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B. Priority three events will be dispatched to the first availa ble CSI officer due
to the high probability that evidenc e may be either contaminate d or
destroyed if the collection proc ess is delayed. The types of ca lls that fit in
this category include:
1. Scene where it is necessary fo r patrol officers to standby.
2. Calls involving dead human bodies. 3. Automobile accidents invo lving department vehicles.
4. Business robberies where the business is open or soon to be
opened.
5. Hate crime.
C. Priority four requests involve cases where expediency is nec essary but
time is not as critical. If a c all classified in this category is pending, a CSI
officer may be allowed to go C ode 7. The types of calls that fi t in this
category include:
1. Sexual and felony assault cri me scene where no deputy is sta nding
by and/or the scene is secure.
2. Business robberies when the business is closed.
3. Business burglaries whether or not the business is open.
4. Injury photos at the hospital.
D. Priority five requests will be dispatched in the order they are received to
any available CSI officer, consi dering geographica l proximity t o the
available officer. These are handled as routine requests for fo llow up.
IV. Routing CSI and ID Events
A. All CSI and ID events shall be prioritized and routed to the appropriate
dispatcher.
V. Special Circumstance Cases
A. CSI officers shall not be dis patched to process Sacramento P olice
Department stolen vehicles. How ever, Communications personnel s hall,
when a deputy recovers a stolen v ehicle belonging to SPD jurisd iction,
inform the deputy to check with SP D regarding the necessity for CSI work.
If it is needed, the deputy will be advised to impound the vehi cle for SPD
to do their CSI work. Communica tions personnel shall notify SPD of the
vehicle location.
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B. If a Sheriff’s Department repor ted stolen vehicle or felony wanted vehicle
is recovered by SPD, CSI shall be dispatched to the scene or th e storage
yard if CSI work is requested by a detective.