Policy Text
Policy
504San Luis Obispo Police Department
San Luis Obispo PD CA Policy Manual
Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2024/10/31, All Rights Reserved.
Published with permission by San Luis Obispo Police
DepartmentStolen Vehicle Recovery - 1Stolen Vehicle Recovery
504.1 SECTION TITLE
RECOVERY OF STOLEN MOTOR VEHICLES
(a) Officers who locate an unoccupied stolen vehicle shall recover the vehicle immediately unless
the watch commander approves a delay.
(1) The reason for the delay shall be clearly articulated to the watch commander; public safety
shall be the primary concern.
(2) The officer or dispatcher shall cause a miscellaneous comment to be added to the CAD call
history explaining the delay if authorized by the watch commander.
(b) When an officer is assigned to process a stolen motor vehicle recovery, the dispatcher shall
provide the officer with the information contained in the SVS.
(c) The investigating officer making the recovery shall do one of the following:
(1) Make one (1) attempt by telephone to notify the owner of their recovered vehicle’s location
and obtain a response time if they are able to take possession of their vehicle. The result of
the notification attempt shall be entered in the miscellaneous field of the SVS recovery/locate
message and the CAD call history. If the registered/legal owner is responding to the scene to take
possession of the vehicle, they must respond within a reasonable amount of time (generally within
45 minutes). If the response time will be longer than a reasonable time, the officer shall store the
vehicle for safekeeping under California Vehicle Code section 22651 (c). The officer will complete
a CHP-180 and supplemental report.
(d) With the approval of the watch commander, the investigating officer may contact the San Luis
Obispo California Highway Patrol Auto Task Force (SLOCATT) to take over the investigation.
If SLOCATT agrees to take over the investigation, then the investigating officer will prepare a
supplemental report if the original case is a SLOPD investigation. If the located stolen vehicle was
entered into SVS by another agency, then the dispatcher shall document in the CAD call history
that the vehicle and investigation were turned over to SLOCATT.
(e) The Records Unit shall comply with 10500 VC and forward a letter postmarked within twenty-
four hours of receipt of information regarding the recovery, excluding weekends/holidays, notifying
the owner of the recovered vehicle and storage location.
(f) All recovered stolen vehicles within our jurisdiction shall be processed for fingerprints and
evidence. Any evidence obtained shall be booked at the San Luis Obispo Police Department.