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Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2025/06/17, All Rights Reserved. Published with permission by Santa Monica Police Department Death Investigation - 1 Santa Monica Police Department Santa Monica Police Department Policy Manual Death Investigation 329.1 PURPOSE AND SCOPE The purpose of this policy is to provide guidelines for situations where officers initially respond to and investigate the circumstances of a deceased person. Some causes of death may not be readily apparent, and some cases differ substantially from what they appeared to be initially. The thoroughness of death investigations and use of appropriate resources and evidence gathering techniques is critical. 329.2 POLICY It is the policy of the Santa Monica Police Department to respond to, document, and investigate incidents where a person is deceased. Investigations involving the death of a person, including deaths from natural causes, accidents, workplace incidents, suic ide, and homicide, shall be initiated, conducted, and properly documented. 329.3 INVESTIGATION CONSIDERATIONS Emergency medical services shall be called in all suspected death cases unless the death is obvious (e.g., decapitated, decomposed). A supervisor shall be notified as soon as possible to assist and provide appropriate personnel and resources. The on-scene supervisor should determine whether follow -up investigation is required and notify the Criminal Investigations Division Commander as necessary. The Watch Commander will make notification to command staff in accordance with the Major Incident Notification P olicy. 329.3.1 CORONER REQUEST Government Code § 27491 and Health and Safety Code § 102850 direct the Coroner to inquire into and determine the circumstances, manner, and cause of certain deaths. The Coroner shall be called in any of the following cases: (a) Unattend ed deaths (No physician in attendance or during the continued absence of the attending physician. This also includes all deaths outside hospitals and nursing care facilities.) (b) Deaths where the deceased has not been attended by either a physician or a registered nurse who is a member of a hospice care interdisciplinary team, as defined by Health and Safety Code § 1746, in the 20 days prior to death (c) Deaths where the physician is unable to state the cause of death. Unwillingness does not apply. This includes all sudden, unexpected, and unusual deaths, and fetal deaths when the unde rlying cause is unknown. (d) Known or suspected homicide (e) Known or suspected suicide (including suicide where the deceased has a history of being victimized by domestic violence). Policy 329 Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2025/06/17, All Rights Reserved. Published with permission by Santa Monica Police Department Death Investigation - 2 Santa Monica Police Department Santa Monica Police Department Policy Manual Death Investigation (f) Deaths involving any criminal action or suspicion of a criminal act. This includes child and dependent adult negligence and abu se. (g) Deaths related to or following known or suspected self -induced or criminal abortion (h) Deaths associated with a known or alleged rape or crime against nature (i) Deaths following an accident or injury (primary or contributory). This includes deaths known or s uspected as resulting (in whole or in part) from or related to accident or injury, either old or recent. (j) Deaths from drowning, fire, hanging, gunshot, stabbing, cutting, starvation, exposure, alcoholism, drug addiction, strangulation, or aspiration (k) Deaths from accidental poisoning (e.g., food, chemical, drug, therapeutic agents) (l) Deaths from occupational diseases or occupational hazards (m) Deaths from known or suspected contagious disease and constituting a public hazard (n) All deaths in operating rooms and all deaths where a patient has not fully recovered from an anesthetic, whether in surgery, recovery room, or elsewhere (o) Deaths that occur in prison or while under sentence. This includes all in -custody and police -involved d eaths. (p) All deaths of unidentified persons (q) All deaths of state hospital patients (r) Suspected Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) deaths (s) All deaths where the patient is comatose throughout the period of the physician's attendance. This includes patients that a re admitted to hospitals unresponsive and expire without regaining consciousness. The body shall not be disturbed or moved from the position or place of death without permission of the Coroner. 329.3.2 SEARCHING DEAD BODIES (a) The Coroner or a designee is generally the only person permitted to search a body known to be dead from any of the circumstances set forth in Government Code § 27491. The only exception is that a sworn officer is permitted to search the body of a person killed in a traffic collision for the limited purpose of locating an anatomical donor card. If such a donor card is located, the Coroner or a designee shall be promptly notified (Government Code § 27491.3). (b) The Coroner, with the permission of the Department, may take property, objects, or article s found on the deceased or in the immediate vicinity of the deceased that may be necessary for conducting an investigation to determine the identity of the deceased or the cause or manner of death (Government Code §