Policy Text
CATEGORY DATE ADOPTED LAST REVIEW
1 1/24/2011 03/01/2020
TUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT GENERAL ORDERS
_________________________
324 - Minors 1 POLICY 324 MINORS
324.1 PURPOSE AND SCOPE
This policy addresses the custody and detention of minors. It is the policy of this Department that
individual police officers must exercise their authority to place a minor in protective custody; or
arrest or detain a minor offender based on sound and often independent judgment, the totality of
the circumstances, available evidence, the best interests of the minor offender, the interest of
justice, current juvenile law, current Juvenile Court policy , and inter ests of the community.
324.1.1 ACCREDITATION STANDARDS
This section pertains to the following CALEA Standards : 1.1.3 , 1.2.5 , 1.2.6, 1.2.8 , 44.2.1 , 44.2.2 ,
44.2.3 , 71.1.1 , 82.1.2 , 82.2.1
This policy pertains to the following Standard Operating Procedures:
324.1.2 DEFINITIONS
Minor —For the purposes of this section, a minor is defined as any individual who is under the
age of 18.
Minor Field Contact —An in -field contact with a minor not resulting in custody.
Protective Custod y—Minors falling under all applicab le Welfare & Institutions Code 300 sections
and subsections , including but not limited to, abused, neglected, and abandoned children.
Non-Secure Custody —Minors held in the presence of an officer or custody employee at all
times and is not placed in a lock ed room, cell or behind any locked doors. Juveniles in non -
secure custody may be handcuffed but not to a stationary or secure object.
Secure Custody —Minor offender is held in a locked room, a set of rooms or a cell. Secure
custody also includes being phy sically secured to a stationary object.
Strip Search or Visual Body Cavity Search - This is a search that requires a person to remove
or rearrange some or all of his/her clothing to permit a visual inspection of the underclothing,
breasts, buttocks or gen italia of such person (Penal Code § 4030(c)(3)). This includes monitoring
of an arrestee changing clothes where the arrestee’s underclothing, buttocks, genitalia or female
breasts are visible to the monitoring employee.
Physical Body Cavity Search - This is a search that includes physical intrusion into a body
cavity. Body cavity means the stomach or rectal cavity of a person, and the vagina of a female
person (Penal Code §§ 4030(c)(2) and 4030(c)(1)).
CATEGORY DATE ADOPTED LAST REVIEW
1 1/24/2011 03/01/2020
TUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT GENERAL ORDERS
_________________________
324 - Minors 2 324.2 MINOR FIELD CONTACTS
When a minor is stopped in the field for interview and is released at the scene, the officer should
complete a Field Interview Card when the situation warrants. When the officer believes the
minor’s activity should be brought to the attention of the Criminal Investigations Unit, the officer
shall complete an Incident Report. Where allowed by law, officers should issue a written citation
or summons rather than take juveniles into custody.
324.2.1 CURFEW AND SKATEBOARDING VIOLATIONS
To expedite disposition of minors taken into cu stody for violation of curfew law or skateboarding,
the minor arrested for either offense may be transported to his/her residence and released to
his/her parents with the approval of the Field Supervisor or Watch Commander. Officers may cite
and release fo r this Tustin City Code violation without a parent present. However, every effort
should be made to notify the parent/responsible adult prior to release.
324.2.2 INTERVIEWING OR INTERROGATING
No interviews of a juvenile should occur unless the juvenile h as the apparent capacity to consent
to an interview.
An officer responsible for conducting an interrogation of a juvenile should assure that the
environment is not overly coercive. To do so, the number of officers present in an interrogation
should not e xceed two, and the demeanor of the officers should not exceed the life experience of
the individual juvenile. The length of the interrogation will be as long as necessary, however, the
officer in charge should take into consideration the juvenile’s age, ph ysical being and the
seriousness of the crime when determining when the interrogation should end.
Prior to a custodial interrogation, and before the waiver of any Miranda rights, a youth 15 years of
age or younger shall consult with legal counsel in perso n, by telephone, or by video conference.
The consultation may not be waived. (WIC 625.6(a)). The only exception to this is covered in
WIC 625(c) which requires the questions be limited to the protection of imminent threat to life and
property.
WIC 625.6 (c) This section does not apply to the admissibility of statements of a youth 15 years of
age or younger if both of the following criteria are met:
1) The officer who questioned the youth reasonably believed the information he or she sought
was necessary to protect the life or property from an imminent threat.
2) The officer’s questions were limited to