Policy Text
Page 1 of 9 6/01 (REV 4/07)
County Vehicle Utilization
The purpose of this General Order i s to provide guidelines rela tive to the operation of
county vehicles by employees of t he Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department.
I. Policy Statement
County vehicles are a valuable r esource that enables employees to fulfill the
department’s mission by serving and protecting the public. In order to do so, it is
important that vehicles are used in a manner that protects the county’s resources and
ensures their availability while reducing potential liability.
II. Permitted Uses
A. County vehicles and equipment s hall be used only for officia l county
business. County vehicles and e quipment, and privately owned v ehicles
and equipment operated for county business, shall be operated i n
accordance with all safety and legal requirements of the county , state and
any other jurisdiction in which they are operated.
B. No employee shall operate a county vehi cle with any measurab le amount
of alcohol in the empl oyee’s blood stream.
C. When operating a county vehicl e, all employees shall be atti red in
conformity with the Sheriff’s Department dress code as set fort h in these
General Orders or, alternatively , shall have such attire stored in the
vehicle and ready for use. When oper ating a county vehicle, al l sworn
employees shall be armed and sha ll carry Sheriff’s Department l aw
enforcement identification.
D. Employees assigned county vehi cles shall be responsible for:
1. Signing the Home Retention Vehicle Acknowledgement (Appendix
A ) before being assig ned a county vehicle;
2. Abiding by the provisions o f the Home Retention Vehicle
Acknowledgement, this General Order , as well as all other Gener al
Orders relating to the operation and use of county vehicles, an d
3. Bringing any county vehicle or equipment to the appropriate county
maintenance facility for routi ne service as required or for any
immediate service as needed. All necessary vehicle or equipmen t
Page 2 of 9 6/01 (REV 4/07) repair requests shall be submitt ed at the time that the vehicle or
equipment is delivered for service.
III. Transporting Unauthorized Pe rsons in County Vehicles
A. Citizens shall be transported in county vehicles only when n ecessary to
accomplish a police purpose. S uch transportation shall be done in
conformance with depar tmental policy or at t he direction of a s upervisor.
B. Off-duty officers shall not be transported in county vehicle s except on
department business or when aut horized by a supervisor.
IV. Transportation of Children
A. Pursuant to Section 27360 of t he California Vehicle Code, em ployees
transporting children under the age o f six (6) years or weighin g less than
sixty (60) pounds in co unty vehicles, shall ensure the child is secured in
an approved child seat restrain t system meeting applicable fede ral motor
vehicle safety standards.
B. In the event that an approved ch ild seat restraint system is not available
and, by reason of physical unfit ness or medical condition the c hild will not
benefit from the use of such a child seat restraint system, the employee
shall select one of the followi ng alternative means of transpor tation for the
child:
1. Other county vehicle with proper restraints
2. Parent, relative, or friend’ s vehicle equipped with proper r estraints
3. Ambulance (as a last resort; unless an acute medical conditi on
exists requiring immediate treatment)
V. Marked Radio Cars
A. Marked radio cars are equi pped with special heavy-duty equip ment which
meets specifications establishe d for police vehicles. Because of this, the
operating cost for marked radio cars is much higher than for ot her classes
of vehicles. For this reason, they should be used only when th ere is a
need for highly visible, specially equipped police units. Unma rked
department cars or county pool car s will be used for other purp oses.
B. Except during emergencies, a ll marked units will be kept loc ked when
unattended. This includes end of wat ch when the cars will be p arked in
the county parking facilitie s or gated parking lots.
Page 3 of 9 6/01 (REV 4/07) VI. Unmarked Vehicles
A. Vehicles shall be returned to the designated Sheriff’s parki ng area upon
completion of an assignment. The se vehicles should be availabl e for
maximum duty utilization by members of t he department.
B. Employees are not permitted to have unmarked vehicles on ove rnight
retention without prior authoriz ation from the division command er.
VII. Home Retention Vehicles
A. The Sheriff or the Sheriff’ s designee may authorize permanen t overnight
assignment of a county vehicle i f the Sheriff or the Sheriff’s designee
determines that such assignment is in the public interest or th e duties to
be performed when an employee is c alled during off-duty hours i s
beneficial to the Department and is necessary to:
1. Immediately travel to the job location; 2. Respond to after-hours emer gencies within the county;
3. Reduce costs by having an em ployee report directly to the jo b
location;
4. Require an employee to be av ailable other t han normal duty h ours
to