GO - 58014 - - Use - of - Canines

POLICE POLICE SACRAMENTO POLICE DEPARTMENT GENERAL ORDERS 580.14 USE OF CANINES 6-27-22 PURPOSE This policy establishes guidelines for the use of department canines to augment police services in the community including, but not limited to, locating suspects, contraband and apprehending criminal offenders. POLICY The Sacramento Police Department values the sanctity of human life and the freedoms guaranteed by the United States and California Constitutions. It is the policy of the Sacramento Police Department that canine handlers meet and maintain the appropriate proficiency to effectively and reasonably carry out legitimate law enforcement objectives pursuant to GO 580.02 Use of Force policy and GO 522.02 Emergency Care for Individuals in Police Care or Control policy. PHILOSOPHY The Sacramento Police Department's primary use of canines is to safely locate suspect(s) in areas that are difficult or dangerous to search, while preserving the handler's option to use minimal force or avoid force altogether, to apprehend and place the suspect into custody. Canines will be deployed based on the criteria listed in this policy. Nothing in this policy supersedes the Sacramento Police Department's Use of Force Policy to include de-escalation, proportionality, and or crisis intervention techniques. The Sacramento Police Department primarily deploys canines utilizing voice commands from the handler as a method of control. Repeated notice on the presence of a canine and request to surrender are given during a deployment when possible. The canines are deployed for suspects wanted for violent felonies, specific felonies listed in this policy, other crimes where a suspect is fleeing and officers believe the suspect is armed with a weapon, or when a suspect is actively resisting arrest. The canine is used to search and locate a suspect(s). Should the suspect(s) surrender the canine will be called back by the handler. Should the suspect resist or continue to evade officers, the canine will engage the suspect and be called off as soon as safely possible by the handler. PROCEDURE A. DEFINITIONS 1. Canine handler - Sworn members who have been POST trained and have attended the canine training school to be certified and qualified to perform all responsibilities of a canine handler. 2. Handler control methodology - The training methodology employed by the department for both the canine and handler in which the handler demonstrates that they are able to maintain physical or verbal control over the actions of their canines. B. GENERAL 1. Approval shall be obtained from a field supervisor prior to using a canine to search for, or apprehend, a suspect. Exception: A rapidly evolving situation that is within the deployment guidelines, but in which it is impractical to obtain supervisory approval. GO 580.14 Page 1 of 7 POLICE SACRAMENTO POLICE DEPARTMENT GENERAL ORDERS POLICE NOTE: It is recognized that situations may arise that do not fall within the provisions set forth in this policy; in such a case, a watch commander can use a standard of reasonableness to review the decision to deploy a canine in view of the totality of circumstances. 2. Watch commanders shall notify the Metro Special Operations Section Lieutenant of any performance issues regarding handlers or canines. 3. C. DEPLOYMENT GUIDELINES The deployment of a canine shall be continuously re-evaluated during an incident to determine appropriateness of its use. During deployments when practical and safe to do so, the handler shall try to maintain visual sight, verbal control and/or have physical control of the canine. 1. Canines shall not be deployed for subjects in the following circumstances: a. Infractions b. Misdemeanor crimes not involving a weapon likely to cause serious bodily injury (such as simple assault, petty theft, vandalism, city code violations) c. Mere flight from an officer unless one of the factors in C. 2. are present d. Petty thefts that escalate to the level of a robbery due to the suspect's resistance towards the victim's efforts to stop the theft (absent actions resulting in great bodily injury (GBI) or a weapon being involved). e. Stolen vehicles involving a named suspect or civil in nature such as a rental car non-return f. Protest or crowd control situations 2. Canines can be deployed for suspects in the following circumstances: a. Wanted for violent felonies (such as homicide, robberies, kidnapping, serious assaults, drive by shootings, sexual assaults) b. Reasonable belief the person may be in possession of a weapon likely to cause serious bodily injury c. Specific felony property crimes: İ. Burglaries ii. Stolen vehicles (when factors in section C.1.e don't exist) iii. Felony vehicle evading d. Warrant service where any of the following are met: İ. Wanted for violent felony ii. Has a violent criminal history iii. Has a criminal history with firearms iv. Has a criminal history of felony evasion or being physically assaultive towards law enforcement e. Suspect is actively resisting arrest 3. When a canine has engaged a suspect, the handler shall direct the canine to release its hold as quickly as possible when the totality of the circumstances indicates the suspect is surrendering or when adequate resources are available to take the suspect safely into custody. Factors in assessing when a suspect is surrendering include, but are not limited to: a. Suspect verbally surrenders b. Suspect's hands can be seen and are not in possession of a weapon c. Suspect physically complies (i.e., hands in