Policy Text
Policy
427San Luis Obispo Police Department
San Luis Obispo PD CA Policy Manual
Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2025/07/01, All Rights Reserved.
Published with permission by San Luis Obispo Police
DepartmentFoot Pursuits - 1Foot Pursuits
427.1 PURPOSE AND SCOPE
This policy provides guidelines to assist officers in making the decision to initiate or continue the
pursuit of suspects on foot.
427.2 DECISION TO PURSUE
The safety of department members and the public should be the primary consideration when
determining whether a foot pursuit should be initiated or continued. Officers must be mindful
that immediate apprehension of a suspect is rarely more important than the safety of the public
and department members.
Officers may be justified in initiating a foot pursuit of any individual the officer reasonably believes
is about to engage in, is engaging in or has engaged in criminal activity. The decision to initiate
or continue such a foot pursuit, however, must be continuously re-evaluated in light of the
circumstances presented at the time.
Mere flight by a person who is not suspected of criminal activity shall not serve as justification for
engaging in an extended foot pursuit without the development of reasonable suspicion regarding
the individual’s involvement in criminal activity or being wanted by law enforcement.
Deciding to initiate or continue a foot pursuit is a decision that an officer must make quickly
and under unpredictable and dynamic circumstances. It is recognized that foot pursuits may
place department members and the public at significant risk. Therefore, no officer or supervisor
shall be criticized or disciplined for deciding not to engage in a foot pursuit because of the
perceived risk involved.
If circumstances permit, surveillance and containment are generally the safest tactics for
apprehending fleeing persons. In deciding whether to initiate or continue a foot pursuit, an
officer should continuously consider reasonable alternatives to a foot pursuit based upon the
circumstances and resources available, such as:
(a)Containment of the area.
(b) Saturation of the area with law enforcement personnel, including assistance from other
agencies.
(c)A canine search.
(d)Thermal imaging or other sensing technology.
(e)Air support.
(f)Apprehension at another time when the identity of the suspect is known or there is
information available that would likely allow for later apprehension, and the need to
immediately apprehend the suspect does not reasonably appear to outweigh the risk
of continuing the foot pursuit.
San Luis Obispo Police Department
San Luis Obispo PD CA Policy Manual
Foot Pursuits
Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2025/07/01, All Rights Reserved.
Published with permission by San Luis Obispo Police
DepartmentFoot Pursuits - 2427.3 GENERAL GUIDELINES
When reasonably practicable, officers should consider alternatives to engaging in or continuing
a foot pursuit when:
San Luis Obispo Police Department
San Luis Obispo PD CA Policy Manual
Foot Pursuits
Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2025/07/01, All Rights Reserved.
Published with permission by San Luis Obispo Police
DepartmentFoot Pursuits - 3427.4 RESPONSIBILITIES IN FOOT PURSUITS
427.4.1 INITIATING OFFICER RESPONSIBILITIES
Unless relieved by another officer or a supervisor, the initiating officer shall be responsible for
coordinating the progress of the pursuit.
Early communication of available information from the involved officers is essential so that
adequate resources can be coordinated and deployed to bring a foot pursuit to a safe conclusion.
Officers initiating a foot pursuit should, at a minimum, broadcast the following information as soon
as it becomes practicable and available:
Officers should be mindful that radio transmissions made while running may be difficult to
understand and may need to be repeated.
When a foot pursuit terminates, the officer will notify the dispatcher of his/her location and the
status of the pursuit termination (e.g., suspect in custody, lost sight of suspect), and will direct
further actions as reasonably appear necessary, to include requesting medical aid as needed
for officers, suspects or members of the public.
427.4.2 ASSISTING OFFICER RESPONSIBILITIES
Whenever any officer announces that he/she is engaged in a foot pursuit, all other officers should
minimize non-essential radio traffic to permit the involved officers maximum access to the radio
frequency.
427.4.3 SUPERVISOR RESPONSIBILITIES
Upon becoming aware of a foot pursuit, the supervisor shall make every reasonable effort to
ascertain sufficient information to direct responding resources and to take command, control and
coordination of the foot pursuit. The supervisor should respond to the area whenever possible;
the supervisor does not, however, need not be physically present to exercise control over the foot
pursuit. The supervisor shall continuously assess the situation in order to ensure the foot pursuit
is conducted within established department guidelines.
San Luis Obispo Police Department
San Luis Obispo PD CA Policy Manual
Foot Pursuits
Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2025/07/01, All Rights Reserved.
Published with permission by San Luis Obispo Police
DepartmentFoot Pursuits - 4The supervisor shall terminate the foot pursuit when the danger to pursuing officers or the public
appears to unreasonably outweigh the objective of immediate apprehension of the suspect.
Upon apprehension of the suspect, the supervisor shall promptly proceed to the termination point
to direct the post-foot pursuit activity.
427.4.4 THE COMMUNICATIONS CENTER RESPONSIBILITIES
Upon notification or becoming aware that a foot pursuit is in progress, the dispatcher is responsible
for:
(a)Clearing the radio channel of non-emergency traffic.
(b)Coordinating pursuit communications of