Policy Text
San Francisco Police Department 8.01
GENERAL ORDER Rev . 05/03/23
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Major and Critical Incident Evaluation and Notification
8.01.01 PURPOSE
The San Francisco Police Department (the Department) stands for Safety with Respect for All. We
will ensure residents, visitors , and members are safe and feel safe.
This order defines major and critical incidents and establishes policies and procedures sworn
members shall follow in making the appropriate notifications to command personnel . The
Department will r espond quickly to t hese safety risks and will do so with the spirit of dignity and in
collaboration with the community.
By evaluating each major and critical incident, the Department improves future responses through
measuring, monitoring, and training to uphold our commitm ent to policing without bias and
address ing any issues in an open and collaborative manner. We will actively collaborate with City
agencies and community organizations to jointly address identified challenges as we strive to maintain and build trust and re spect as the guardian of Constitutional and human rights .
Critical and major incidents are broadly witnessed by the community and provide our members the opportunity to showcase the spirit of mutual respect and fairness we embrace in our work.
8.01.0 2 POLICY
EVALUATION - It is the policy of the San Francisco Police D epartment that should a major or
critical incident occur, the District Captain or, if not immediately available, the Night Captain or
Weekend Captain , shall make a prompt evaluation and notification. If neither is immediately
available, t he Lieutenant on duty in the district of occurrence shall make the evaluation and
notification.
8.01.0 3 DEFINITIONS
A. MAJOR INCIDENT - An event involving potential or actual injury, death, or property damage
requiring an exceptional emergency response. This includes natural disasters (floods, earthquakes, major fires, etc.) and human -caused emergencies (plane crash, riot, terrorist acts, etc.) that require
extensive response and commitment of resources to control or resolve .
B. CRITICAL INCIDENT - Any incident with a life -threatening situation, a defined terrain
objective , and requiring a coordinated tactical response should be declared as a critical incident.
Procedures and guidelines for requesting the Tactical Unit should be followed.
DGO 8.01
Rev. 05/ 03/23
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The fol lowing situation s constitute a major incident:
1. Riot, insurrection, or potentially violent demonstration (see DGO 8.03 Crowd Control )
2. Explosion of a destructive device or found suspicious item requiring an EOD response to the scene ( see DGO 8.08 Bomb Threats, Clandestine Laboratories, Destructive Devices,
Explosions, and Fireworks )
3. Airplane crash
4. Major fire (five alarms or greater) (see DGO 8.06 Fire Procedures )
5. Hazardous material incident (see DGO 8.07 Hazardous Material Incidents )
6. Earthquake or any natural calamity involving multiple casualties or significant destruction of property, or the likelihood of eithe r
7. Mass C asualty even t (gas line explosion, traffic collision , construction site , etc. )
The following situations constitute a critic al incident:
1. Active Attacker Incident – One or more individuals actively engaged in killing or attempting
to kill people in a confined and populated area (see Requesting the Tactical Unit / SWAT and Call-Out Procedures policy)
2. Hostage/Barricaded Suspect – criminally involved (see DGO 8.02 Hostage & Barricaded Suspect )
3. Sniper (see Requesting the Tactical Unit / SWAT and Call -Out Procedures policy)
4. Officer- Involved Shooting (see DGO 8.11 Investigation of Officer -Involved Shootings and
Discharges )
5. Officer shot or critically injured while on duty
6. Custody escape (see DGO 5.18 Prisoner Handling and Transportation)
7. In-Custody Death (see DGO 8.12 In Custody Deaths )
8. Verified Child Abduction (see Guidelines for Handling Stranger and Parental Abduction of
Children policy)
DGO 8.01
Rev. 05/ 03/23
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8.01.0 4 PROCEDURES
Leadership - Critical and major incident s happen infrequently and generally require a large -scale
response. They usually involve property damage, injury or death, and ha ve a devastating impact on
the community. Two key leadership components of any critical incident are incident command, and
teamwork. Incident command is a role that requires experience and training. Who takes command will depend on a variety of factors including the type of occurrence, jurisdiction, personnel available, and city/county protocol. Regardless of who is in command, peace officers and other public servants have to work together as a team to achieve success.
Action Plan - The incident commander is responsible for seeing that an appropriate plan of action is
implemented to deal with the immediate situation. Required actions will vary according to the
specifics of each incident.
The tactics used to manage an incident must be reassessed and evaluated throughout the operation. Addi tional resources may become necessary or specific tactics may need to be modified.
A. DUTIES OF THE FIRST ARRIVING OFFICER (s)
1. Determine if a situation meets the criteria of either a major or critical incident.
2. Determine the hazard (person or material) and location of the incident and immediately
communicate that information to DEM and responding units. If feasible, immediately