Policy Text
Roll Call Training Bulletin
Produced by: Lt. Bob McCloskey San Somers Jr., Chief of Police
Volume 35
May 28, 2015
72-HOUR Temporary (or Probable cause) Want
Patrol Officers have been doing a great job in taking the extra steps in their initial investigations that greatly assists detectives once the case is eventually assigned to them. Some of these examples include drafting and distributing Crime Bulletins ( SNOWs, ABs & IBs), adding REMARKS to a suspect’s county screen/WebKPF
page, and drafting and executing search warrants in the field. With all of this in mind, I want to bring your attention to another option that is available and that is the 72- HR Temporary (or Probable Cause) Want .
The 72-HR Temporary Want is a probable cause want that is entered into NCIC for a felony charge
. There are
a few benefits with this process including:
1. Suspect Is Flagged : The suspect would be flagged in the NCIC system for a felony want (similar to a warrant)
for 72 hours. This usually gives time for detectives to review the case and follow -up with an arrest warrant during
normal business hours over the course of the next (3) days.
2. Alerts LEAs Outside of County : This would alert law enforcement agencies outside of Sacramento County
when the suspect is stopped and run in the system for warrants. This is especially important when dealing with
suspects who are a definite flight risk .
3. Records Can Enter Wants For You : Records Warrants Radio personnel can enter this Temporary Want in
NCIC in less than (10) minutes. You can do this by either calling down there (X-0611) or by dropping by HOJ
and doing it in person.
To better put this into perspective, here is an example of a SPD case that happened a couple of weeks back:
EXAMPLE: The suspect was recently released from prison for beating up his (now) ex-wife. On a Friday evening,
the suspect saw his ex -wife at a local store and jumped into her car as she was about to leave. The suspect beat up
the ex-wife, kidnapped her, and forced her to drive to an out-of- the way park where he continued the assault. Once
neighbors saw the assault occurring and called SPD Dispatch, the suspect pushed the ex-wife out of her car and
stole her vehicle. This was after the suspect threatened the victim’s life which was viewed as a very credible threat. Because this case didn’t qualify for a call -out from OOI, the case probably wouldn’t be reviewed by detectives until
the following Monday or Tuesday.
The suspect was ultimately wanted for 245, 207, 236, 422 and 215 PC .
Arguably, this was a very violent felony case where the suspect needed to be caught ASAP before the victim could be further victimized and/or killed. The stolen vehicle was obviously e ntered into the SVS System so that
was flagged in case an officer spotted that, but what about the suspect? By just entering REMARKS into the county system and/or distributing an A rrest B ulletin locally, we are only flagging that subject to LEA officers in
Sacramento County. But by taking the time to perform the extra step and enter the suspect into NCIC on a 72-HR Temporary Want , the suspect can be flagged and ul timately arrested if he is stopped just across the
river in West Sacramento, or anywhere ou tside of Sacramento county.
Roll Call Training Bulletin
Produced by: Lt. Bob McCloskey San Somers Jr., Chief of Police
Volume 34
May 28, 2015
72-HOUR Temporary (or Probable cause) Want
In order to ensure that this 72-HR Temporary Want
is used in an appropriate manner, Sergeants please
instruct your officers by going over the following protocol:
1. Ensure you have a violent felony or heinous crime that would justify the use of this option. Again, a perfect
example would be where the crime occurred on a Friday or Saturday night and the case wouldn’t be seen by
detectives until the following Monday or Tuesday. Waiting a few days could put your victim in harm ’s way of
being further victimized and/or possibly killed.
NOTE: This option should not be used on every felony case, or a case in which the victim may be unsure of
filing charges, or recanting their statement, or just seen as a ‘weak felony’ in general.
2. Officers shall obtain Sergeant’s approval to do the 72- HR Temporary Want. Sergeants should verify that the case
involves: #1) a violent felony; and #2) the strong possibility of flight by the suspect.
3. Office rs should call Warrants Radio or visit them in person to have Records personnel make the CLETS
entry. Officers can also ask Records personnel to attach a copy of the 72 -HR Temporary Want to the report as a
TEXT document if the report is already in the system . This will help investigators confirm that the 72 -HR
Temporary Want was in fact entered into the system.
4. Complete the entire report that same shift . If the suspect is taken into custody elsewhere, Records personnel will
be called by the Outside Agency to verify that there is in fact sufficient probable cause to justify the arrest by the outside agency; which would probably mean SPD emailing or faxing a copy of the report to that agency. Officers
must clearly establish the probable cause and list the charges pending within the body of thei r reports.
5. Contact the appropriate OOI Detective Sergeant via telephone to advise him/her of the