Policy Text
SAN DIEGO POLICE DEPA RTMENT
POLICY MANUAL
– AME RICA'S F INEST CITY –
Revised 03/10/2022
EXECUTIVE O RDER
The San Diego Police Depar tment s erves the peop le of Sa n Diego by pe rforming our la w
enforcement func tion in a profe ssion al mann er. We ar e ultimately responsible to the people we
serve. To provide qua lity service to the community , we must rely on sound l eader ship, guidanc e
and support. To this end, this Policy Manua l is adopted for a ll me mbers of the Depar tment.
Policy consists of pr inciples, va lues and philosophies, which guide the performance o f
members. It is b ased on police ethic s and exper ience, the de sires of the community and lega l
mandates. Policy is broad in scope so tha t it will encompa ss most situ ations. I t is st ated in
general ter ms.
Methods of procedu res will be disse minated in the form of Dep artment Pro cedures. Th e
Policy Manua l and Depar tment Procedure s are ava ilable to a ll me mbers via computer on- line.
Policie s and Procedure s convey the sa me authority and require compliance by a ll me mbers.
Each me mber must be fa miliar with the contents of the Policy Manua l and t he
Depar tment Procedure s. Additions or change s will be made from time to time. Violations of
any portion of the P olicy and Procedure s Manual may re sult in dis ciplinary action.
Commanding offic ers have the authority to issue sp ecial orders whi ch may devia te from
the Policy Manual a s may be nece ssary for te mporary or emergency purpose s.
The Policy Manua l cannot encompa ss all possible situations encount ered i n the genera l
discharge of police dutie s. Because of this, member s should use good judgment and common
sense in det ermining their cour se of conduct and ac tion while fulfilling their re sponsibilitie s as
members of the Depar tment.
The Policy Manua l will not apply in such a way as to viola te state or fe deral la ws or
abridge the c onstitution al rights of me mbers of th is Department. If, for any reason, any portion
of the Policy Manua l is h eld to be invalid, the re mainder of the Policy manua l shall not be
affected.
David Nisleit
Chief of Police
San Diego Police Department Policy Manual
Updated 03/10/2022
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SAN DI EGO POLICE DE PARTME NT
POLICY MANUAL
INDEX
1.00 ADMINISTRATION
2.00 C OMMU NICATIONS
3.00 IN VESTIGATI ONS
4.00 LE GAL
5.00 PE RSONNEL
6.00 P ATROL
7.00 TRAFF IC
8.00 CRITICA L INCI DENTS
9.00 PE RSONAL C ONDUCT
DEFINITIO NS
Member - Include s all employees of the Police Depar tment, sworn
and non- sworn.
Officer - Include s all swo rn personne l.
Superior - A sup ervisor, a p erson h igher in the chain of command or
an officer of higher ra nk.
San Diego Police Department Policy Manual
Updated 03/10/2022
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1.00 – ADM INISTRATION POLI CIES
1.01 DEP ARTME NT POLI CIES, PROCE DURES , ORDERS , CO MMUNI CAT IONS
AND CORRESP ONDE NCE (Revised 11/04/08)
Depar tment dir ectiv es (i.e., Lega l Updates, Ord ers, Policies, Procedure s and T raining
Bulle tins) are wr itten dir ectiv es that convey the sa me authority . All member s of the
Depar tment will be held responsible for abiding by the in formation c ontained in Lega l
Updates, Ord ers, Policies, Procedure s and Training Bulle tins.
All me mbers shall acce ss Depar tment dir ectiv es via the Resource L ibrary on the LA N
or Automated Field Repor ting (AFR) sy stems in a ccordance with Depar tment
Procedure 1.01.
1.02 DEP ARTME NT ORGANI ZAT ION TI TLES
Title s shall be used to identify par ticular ranks and groups under the charge of those
ranks. (Refer to Dep artment Procedure 1.02.)
1.03 PURS UIT POL ICY
Law viola tors shall be appre hended whenever f easible. A violator sh all not be pursued
to the point wher e the life of the offi cer, the viol ator or other s is pl aced in jeopar dy.
Officer s shall be prepared to discontinue the pur suit if it becomes unreasonable unde r
the ci rcumstances. (Refer to Depar tment Procedure 1.03.)
1.04 USE O F FORCE POL ICY (Revised 12/