Policy Text
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GENERAL ORDER
Pursuit Intervention Tactics
The purpose of this General Order i s to set forth policy guidel ines pertaining to Pursuit
Intervention Tactics, specifica lly the pursuit immobilization t echnique (PIT), stop sticks
and spike strips.
I. Pursuit Intervention (Forcible Stops) Defined
Pursuit intervention is: A. The deliberate act of impacti ng a violator’s vehicle with an other vehicle to
force the violator’s vehicle to stop.
B. The placement of devices in fr ont of the path of the violato r’s oncoming
vehicle so that the tires of sai d vehicle deflate, diminishing its ability to
continue.
II. Considerations for Deployment
A. Pursuit intervention shoul d only be utilized if the followi ng conditions are
m e t :
1. An officer has reason to belie ve the continued movement of the
pursued vehicle would place others in imminent danger of grea t
bodily harm or death and
2. The apparent risk of harm, t o other than the operator of t he pursued
vehicle, is so great as to out weigh the apparent risk of harm
involved in making the forcible stop and
3. Other reasonable means of appr ehension have been considere d
and rejected as impractical.
B. Whenever possible, a supervi sor’s permission should be obta ined prior to
exercising pursuit intervention tactics.
III. Deployment Limitations
A. Absent exigent circumstances , pursuit intervention should n ot be utilized
on the following vehicles:
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1. Any bus with passengers 2. Any vehicle laden wit h hazardous materials
3. Motorcycles, mopeds, bicycles or similar vehicles 4. Any vehicle that woul d pose an unusual hazard
B. Absent exigent circumstances, pursuit intervention should n ot be utilized
in the following locations:
1. Areas of excessive traffic congestion or obstructions 2. Roadways with steep or dangerous embankments
IV. Roadblocks
A. Officers are not to use sheri ff’s vehicles as a barricade o r roadblock to
stop a vehicle t hat is being pursued.
V. Pursuit Immobilizat ion Technique (PIT)
A. PIT is considered to be le ss-lethal force and, when applied properly,
produces consistently predictable results.
B. For safety reasons, PIT shoul d not be attempted at speeds g reater than
35 mph. C. The PIT maneuver should be us ed only when there are a minim um of two
units available: a primary, secondary and, when possible, a t hird unit. The
secondary and following units wil l be used to initiate the hi gh-risk vehicle
s t o p . D. Be aware: The PIT maneuver may activate the Sheriff’s vehi cle airbag, as
these systems are designed to dep loy at 14+ mph into fixed ob jects, and
28+ mph into moving objects, d epending on the number of senso rs
activated.
E. Vehicles to be used for the PIT maneuver shall be only marke d patrol
units consisting of the Ford Crown Victoria, Ford Taurus (Polic e
Interceptor Sedan), Ford Explorer (Police Interceptor Utility), Dodge
Charger, Chevrolet Tahoe pursuit r ated 4x2 and 4x 4 (2015 & up f or 4x4)
and/or any clearly marked, pur suit rated, patrol unit assigned to Field
Services. The following vehicles should not be used as primary PIT units:
1. Any K-9 unit
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3. Any van or non- pursuit rated SUV
4. Any Youth Services unit 5. Any Interdiction unit F. Absent exigent circumstances , officers shall not initiate a ny PIT
maneuvers when transporting citiz ens, victims, prisoners or r ide-alongs.
G. The PIT maneuver should no t be performed on any vehicle wit h a gross
weight substantially more than th at of the Sheriff’s Departme nt vehicle, nor
shall a PIT be performed on any vehicle with fewer than four wheels
(such as bicycles, motorcycles, trikes) H. The PIT maneuver shall be per formed only by those officers who have
received training in the techni que through the EVOC course of instruction.
VI. Spike Strips and Stop Sticks
A. Spike strips and stop sticks are considered to be less-leth al force. These
are devices placed on the roadw ay, in front of oncoming suspe ct vehicles.
These devices contain a number o f hollow metal spikes which, upon
striking the suspect’s tires , bleed air from th e tires at a m oderate and
controlled rate.
B. Spike strips and stop sticks should be deployed where there are
sufficient Sheriff’s units (a minimum of two) to conduct a hi gh-risk vehicle
stop, plus the deploying uni t. The deploying officer will no t be immediately
available to assist in the stop. C. The deploying officer should not have to overtake the pursu it in order to
properly place the strip or s tick and should deploy the devic e from a
location offering cover. D. Both pursuing and deploying officers should communicate clo sely to
ensure