General Order 12.03 Procedure When A Firearm Is Discharged

GENERAL ORDER #12.03 1 PROCEDURE WHEN A FIREARM IS DISCHARGED GENERAL ORDER #12.03 Adopted: 07/07/2010 Updated: 1/15/2021 Replaces: G.O. # 12.03 dated 02/22/2010 Reviewed: 1/15/2021 Number of Pages: 6 Distribution: Unrestricted ****************************************************************************** POLICY This policy applies to all sworn staff of the Sheriff’s Office, and reference to “deputy” or “deputies” throughout this policy refers to all sworn staff. PROCEDURE A. PROCEDURE WHEN FIREARM IS DISCHARGED 1. Notification and report by employee involved a. Whenever a deputy intentionally discharges , other than for practice, qualification, or reasonable and lawful recreational purposes , or accidentally discharges any firearm the deputy shall, as soon as practical, notify the on- duty supervisor stating the circumstances surrounding the incident. The on- duty supervisor shall, as soon as practical, notify the deputies’ division/section cap tain. b. In all incidents, other than an officer -involved shooting incident as defined in General Order #12.06 (“Post -Shooting Incident Procedure”), t he deputy discharging the firearm shall, as soon as practical and prior to the end of the deput y’s shift, complete a written report of the incident. If the incident is criminal in nature, he or she shall complete an Incident Report ( IR) and a Blue Team Firearms Use Report . If the incident is not criminal in nature, he or she shall complete a Blue Team Firearms Use Report . The supervisor receiving the IR and Blue Team reports from the d eputy shall forward them GENERAL ORDER #12.03 2 to the involved deputy’s division/section captain and to the Investigative Services Captain . After review by the division/section captain , the reports will be forwarded to the Assistant Sheriff in the involved deputy’s chain of command. c. If the d eputy who discharges a firearm is hospitalized or fatally injured or is otherwise incapable of filing the required reports, the deputy’s on- duty supervisor is responsible for filing as complete a report as possible pending further departmental investigation. d. If the firearms discharge occurs in a custody facility or f acility operated by the Department of Correction, in addition to the notification required by this Order, the d eputy shall follow any notification procedure required by any Sheriff’s Office Post Order that applies to that f acility. e. When a deputy discharges any firearm , other than for practice, qualification, reasonable and lawful recreational purposes , or to kill a dangerous animal or to kill an animal that is so badly injured that humanity requires its removal from further suffering , the weapon shall be held for inspection by the rangemaster and shall not be returned to use until deemed safe to do so. In the event the weapon is held as evidence, the rangemaster will conduct the inspection in the presence of the assigned investigator and the weapon will be made safe and held as evidence by the assigned investigator or CSI . 2. If injury or death results If injury or death results from such discharge of a firearm, the following procedures shall be followed in addition to those in section A .1. a. The involved d eputy will make all reasonable efforts to preserve the scene until relieved. b. The first non- involved deputy at the scene will assum e command, pending the arrival of superior officers. c. The supervisor who is responsible for the area where the incident occurred will respond and take command of the scene until relieved by the on- duty watch commander or the assigned detective from the Investigative Services Division . The supervisor will dir ect the Patrol Operations Desk to notify the Watch Commander as well as the responsible Division Captain and to make other notifications based on the notification list for major critical incidents. GENERAL ORDER #12.03 3 d. The supervisor , upon arrival at the scene, should ensure completion of the duties and notifications outlined above and implement the Post- Shooting Incident Procedure, as outlined in General Order #12.06 (“Post -Shooting Incident Procedure”) including obtaining a limited public safety statement. e. The patrol operations desk will immediately notify the: 1. Investigative Services Division Captain . 2. Assistant Sheriff of Field Enforcement Bureau and Support Services Bureau . 3. The Undersheriff 4. The Sheriff. 5. Internal Affairs Unit supervisor. f. Other divisional personnel will be precluded from entering into any portion of the scene without the specific authorization of the Enforcement or Investigative Services command personnel present at the scene. g. The I nvestigative Services Division Captain will immediately assign an investigation team and will notify the Field Enforcement commander of their identities. h. The Investigative Services Division Captain may respond and assume command of the investigation. i. The Internal Affairs Unit will monitor and review all phases of the investigation and shall receive full cooperation from the command staff and from Sheriff’s Office personnel conducting the investigation. j. As soon as practical, the I nvestigative Services Captain will notify the District Attorney’s Office of the incident. k. As soon as circumstances allow, the deputy involved in the incident will report to the Personnel Division and will be placed on routine administrative status as determined by the Undersheriff and the Personnel Division Captain . The deputy shall remain available to personnel conducting the investigation and shall remain on administrative status until ordered back to normal duty