Policy Text
University of California, San Francisco
Police Department General Orders
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4.5 Patrol: Organization and Administration
4.5.9 Watch Commander Duties, Responsibilities and Procedures (Revised: 7/18/18)
It is the policy of the UCSF Police Department to have one person established as the Watch
Commander on each shift, 24 hours a day. This position will be held by a sworn peace officer.
A. The Chief of Police, or his/her designee, will assign a Sergeant of Police or Acting
Sergeant to serve as the Shift Sergeant, on each patrol shift . (The duties of a Sergeant of
Police are descri bed in the Universitywide Police Policies and Procedures Manual,
Chapter 3, Section 303.3.) The Shift Sergeant has authority and responsibility to plan,
direct, train, correct and schedule all personnel on his/her shift.
1. Shift Sergeants may initiate couns eling sessions, correct improper behavior and
initiate disciplinary action(s) as appropriate to direct and supervise subordinates.
This includes Sergeants initiating actions with police officers and Public Safety
Dispatchers on different shifts.
2. Shift Serg eants shall be responsible for training and monitoring police officers
who function as Watch Commanders.
3. Each Shift Sergeant shall assign a chain of command on their shift establishing
who will function as the Watch Commander in the absence of the Shift Se rgeant.
When the Shift Sergeant is on duty, he/she is always the Watch Commander.
When the Shift Sergeant is not on duty, an officer shall be designated as the
Watch Commander, based on the chain of command assigned by the Shift
Sergeant.
a. Probationary officers or officers on a performance improvement plan shall
not be assigned Watch Commander duties.
b. If an FTO is training a new officer and there is no qualified senior officer
available, then the FTO shall assume the responsibilities as both the FTO
and Watch Commander for the shift.
B. Patrol Officers acting as Watch Commanders, shall correct and report any improper
behavior, violations of procedure or other inappropriate activities of which they become
aware to the Shift Sergeant, either in writing or verbally, as soon as possible. Aggravated
or serious incidents shall be reported directly to the FSD Captain or the Duty Command
Officer.
1. The Watch Commander shall document any of the above situations in a
Departmental memorandum to the Offic e of the Chief of Police via the chain of
command as well as notify the Duty Command Officer if, in his/her opinion, the
situation is of a serious nature.
2. Supervision of special watch or mid -watch assignments and other details which
do not report at regular times for change of watch shall be under the supervision
of the Watch Commander on duty at the time the special watch or detail reports
University of California, San Francisco
Police Department General Orders
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for duty. The res ponsibility for supervision of such watch or detail is transferred
at the change of watch to the next Watch Commander on duty.
C. A Watch Commander shall ensure that all transmitted messages received on his/her
watch are promptly read. Messages requiring action shall be acted upon without delay.
Messages that should be read by the next watch or for a special detail shall be so marked.
D. Watch Commanders are responsible for making notifications to appropriate Command
personnel, as well as to applicable U niversity departments, as necessary.
E. Shift Sergeants shall review reports and sign those that they approve and attach a report
review form, indicating the corrections or additions to be made, to those that must be
returned for revision.
1. Patrol Offi cers functioning as Watch Commanders shall review and approve only
arrest reports that would need to be routed to the San Francisco Police Records
Division within listed time limits.
2. Watch Commanders, whether shift sergeants or police officers, are resp onsible for
reviewing all reports to determine if any routing and/or notifications need to be
made immediately.
3. Guidelines for report approval and routing are contained in General Order 8.4.6
“Distribution of Reports.”
F. Shift Sergeants shall review t he issuance of parking citations to ensure that they are
complete and processed in compliance with General Order 4.15.7 “Preparation of
Citation/Report.”
G. Watch Commanders shall respond to incidents which they deem to be of a serious or
significant nature and take the appropriate action. Examples of serious incidents include:
suicides, major injury accidents, shootings, working fires, any police personnel in juries,
situations of a sensitive and/or confidential nature and all cases in which force is used, as
described in General Order 4.3 “Use of Force.”
H. Each Patrol Sergeant/Watch Commander and other supervisors, as designated by the
Chief of Police, shall file a Daily Report on the standardized form at the end of the shift.
1. The Daily Report shall be routed to the Department Supervisor Log Server
(Outlook email folder).
2. Incidents and information of a highly sensitive or confidential nature shall be
separately routed directly to the Chief of Police in a sealed envelope marked
"CONFIDENTIAL."
I. The Daily Report shall include the following subject areas:
1. Deployment
University of California, San Francisco
Police Department General Orders
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a. The names of personnel shall be reported for each unit, including field and
speci al assignments.
b. Any deviations in planned personnel shall be briefly explained, e.g.,
“Officer Smith is ill.”
2. Shift briefing training and other information provided shall be indicated on the
Supervisor’s Daily Report.
3. Uniform and equipment inspection
4. Vehicle inspections
5. Significant activities