49875498.pdf

\n\n--- Page 1 ---\n\nSEMINOLE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE NUMBER: G - 7 GENERAL ORDER RESCINDS: SUBJECT: Special Response Management EFFECTIVE: November 14, 1994 REVISED: September 23, 2022 Table of Contents: I. Purpose II. Scope III. Special and Tactical Response Teams IV. Command and Organizational Structure V. Emergency Planning VI. Selection of Team Members VII. Equipment and Supplies I. PURPOSE: Special and tactical response teams give the Sheriff's Office the ability to effectively respond to large scale and tactical situations beyond the scope of routine law enforcement services. II. SCOPE: A. Situations presenting grave danger to law enforcement personnel, and members of the community or suspects, demands the development of elaborate or tactical plans and specialized teams. Situations requiring a special agency response may include: 1. Hostage or barricaded subjects, 2. High risk search or arrest situations, 3. Riots and disturbances, 4. Bomb threats and bombing incidents, 5. Civil disturbances, 6. Natural or man-made disasters, and 7. High profile incidents. B. Situations not presenting extraordinary risks to employees or community members may also require the services of special and tactical response teams to supplement routine staffing. These may include: 1. Search, rescue, and recovery missions, 2. Coverage of special events (sporting, non-violent demonstrations, etc.), and 3. Dignitary protection. III. SPECIAL & TACTICAL RESPONSE TEAMS: GENERAL ORDER Special Response Management GO # 7 PAGE 1 OF 4\n\n--- Page 2 ---\n\nA. The Sheriff's Office provides the following special and tactical response teams: Tactical Response Teams: 1. Special Weapons and Tactics Team (SWAT) 2. Hazardous Device Team (HDT) Specialized Response Teams: 1. Mobile Field Force (MFF) 2. Underwater Search and Recovery Team (USART) 3. Crisis Negotiation Team (CNT) B. Special and tactical response teams are not full-time agency components. Employees are assigned to teams on a part-time basis in addition to their regular duties. C. The emergency and priority nature of special and tactical response teams will be recognized by all supervisors, to include training and deployments. D. Individual written procedures shall exist to govern the operation of special or tactical response team. E. At the Sheriff's discretion any special or tactical response team, or any individual employee or group of employees, may be assigned to aid other law enforcement or public service agencies in time of emergency or as provided by mutual aid agreement. IV. COMMAND AND ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE: Immediate command authority for special or tactical response teams, including the responsibility for training and unusual occurrence planning, is delegated by the Sheriff to the following personnel: A. The Sheriff will designate High Risk Incident Commanders to oversee high liability incidents. The High Risk Incident Commander will be notified and serve as the agency’s Incident Commander in all riots or other civil disorders, active shooter situations, natural or man-made disasters, hostage taking, barricaded subjects, high risk warrant service, dignitary protection details and high profile incidents. B. Command authority for the Special Weapons and Tactics, Crisis Negotiation, Mobile Field Force, Underwater Search and Recovery, and Hazardous Device teams are assigned to the Captain of the Special Operations Division. C. Each special response team will have a team commander who ensures the team follows each individual team’s written procedure on training, selecting new members, practicing communications techniques, coordinating new or revised response procedures and conducting equipment readiness inventories. V. EMERGENCY PLANNING: A. Emergency operations planning manuals and written procedures governing emergency operations are made available to Sheriff's Office command staff in written form or through the intranet. B. Team commanders are responsible for periodically reviewing (and revising if necessary) their team's written procedures, if any. Reviews should take into consideration: 1. Current working relationships between enforcement or corrections components, GENERAL ORDER Special Response Management GO # 7 PAGE 2 OF 4\n\n--- Page 3 ---\n\n2. Liaison with other law enforcement and public service providers, 3. The current validity of operational procedures, 4. The availability of personnel and equipment resources, and 5. The need to identify and locate emergency command posts. C. When planning a response to an incident, team members must ensure their response is fully coordinated with other teams or personnel at the scene in order to establish a level of communication and cooperation to help bring the situation under control. This will help eliminate potential misunderstandings among all components, provide for the safety of Deputies and other personnel, and help ensure the success of an operation. 1. Communication and coordination between specialty teams and other on-scene personnel may be accomplished through a mutually recognized radio frequency or by designating a team member to serve as a liaison from the team to other personnel. 2. Team commanders should keep in consideration discretion in disseminating information to on- scene personnel or other operational components if security is critical to the success of an operation. VI. SELECTION OF TEAM MEMBERS: A. Membership on a special response team is voluntary. B. Applicants must: 1. Have law enforcement/corrections experience and/or have received training in crisis intervention, 2. Meet the physical standards established for the position, 3. Be able to respond on a 24-hour basis, and 4. Have the ability to function as part of a team effort. C. Applicant personnel may be subject to: 1. Oral interviews with team commanders or team members, 2. Physical agility tests or routine physicals, and 3. Background investigations to assess potential performance. D. Nothing in this chapter restricts team commanders from establishing additional member selection criteria. Additional criteria should be defined within a team's individual standard operating procedures. VII. EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES: A. Commanders ensure their special and tactical response teams are provided with equipment necessary to perform their function. Commanders provide for the purchase and/or replacement of equipment through the Sheriff's Office annual budget. B. Agency equipment used in unusual occurrence situations, including any special purpose vehicle, will be inspected at least quarterly to determine its operational readiness. Equipment found in need of repair or replacement will be reported to the team commander, and will be repaired or replaced in a timely manner to ensure its availability for future use. Specialized vehicle operations are explained in further detail in Enforcement Policy 36. GENERAL ORDER Special Response Management GO # 7 PAGE 3 OF 4