Policy Text
POLICE
CHIE
OXNARD POLICE
OFFICER
DISTRIC
VENTURA
TORN
COUNTY
ERIK NASARENKO
District Attorney
SHERIFF BILL AYUB
Ventura County Sheriff's Office
CHIEF D ARIN SCHINDLER
Ventura Police Department
CHIEF JASON BENITES
Oxnard Police Department
VENTURA COUNTY
LAW ENFORCEMENT
COORDINATING COMMITTEE
Chief Darin Schindler
Ventura Police Department
Chair
CHIEF ANDREWSALINAS
Port Hueneme Police Department
CHIEF DAVID LIVINGSTONE
Simi Valley Police Department
CHIEF TRAVIS WALKER
Santa Paula Police Department
CAPTAIN JACK FROST
California Highway Patrol
1.
Operational & Procedural Agreement
Subject: Guidelines for Control of Cross-Jurisdictional Pursuits in Ventura County
Purpose: To establish uniform guidelines in coordinating police pursuits that cross
jurisdictional boundaries within Ventura County.
2.
3.
4.
Adoption: The guidelines contained herein are officially adopted by the Ventura
County Law Enforcement Coordinating Committee, which includes the Sheriff, the
District Attorney, all County Police Chiefs, and the California Highway Patrol's
Ventura County offices. These guidelines supersede all prior communications,
agreements and promises, either oral or written, on this subject matter.
Application: Nothing contained herein is intended to increase, modify, or in any way
affect current legal vehicle pursuit standards. Deviation from these guidelines shall
not be considered a breach of any legal standard.
Definitions: The following terminology shall be used to standardize terms relevant to
vehicle pursuits:
a. Take over the pursuit: Assume operational control of the pursuit. The
assisting agency shall dispatch unit(s) to take over for the requesting agency.
Once in place, the requesting agency will disengage from the pursuit.
Request to assist: A request for a secondary unit. Additional units may be
requested given the circumstances of the pursuit.
b.
C.
d.
Disengage from the pursuit: Terminate code 3 driving and discontinue trailing
the pursuit.
Assist with the arrest: This will be a request for unit(s) to assist at the
5.
e.
f.
Ventura County Pursuit Protocol
January 20, 2021
termination of the pursuit to safely affect the arrest of the suspect(s).
No assistance needed: This is a notification only that a pursuit is in an allied
agency's jurisdiction and no additional assistance is needed nor required by
the pursuing agency.
Termination point: The point where the pursuit comes to a conclusion.
Agency Notification
a. When a vehicle pursuit leaves or is about to leave the pursuing agency's
jurisdiction, it is important to provide as much advanced notification as
possible to neighboring agencies.
b.
C.
It shall be the responsibility of the pursuing agency's dispatch center to notify
the neighboring agency as soon as practical. This notification shall attempt
to provide information set forth in Section 7, below.
Should the pursuit continue through another outside agency and towards
another, the agency that has jurisdiction in which the pursuit is occurring shall
make effort to advise the subsequent jurisdiction of the pursuit that is headed
in their direction.
6. Jurisdiction Requests: The pursuing unit(s) may request, through their watch
commander or field supervisor, assistance from units of other jurisdictions if the
pursuit enters another jurisdiction and any of the following conditions exist:
7.
a.
b.
C.
The pursuing agency's unit(s) become disabled and the pursuit would
otherwise continue;
The pursuing agency is unfamiliar with the area of the pursuit to the degree
that there is increased risk to continue the pursuit or the suspect is likely to
escape;
The pursuit is likely to terminate in the allied agency's jurisdiction and
insufficient units from the primary agency are available to safely arrest the
suspect(s).
Information Exchange: The requesting agency shall advise the assisting agency of
all relevant information including:
a.
The type of assistance requested, using the terminology defined in Section 4,
above;
Vehicle/suspect description;
b.
C.
The specific reason(s) for the pursuit/want;
d.
e.
f.
To the best possible extent, specific information regarding officer
safety/identity of suspect(s)/weapon(s);
The behavior of the suspect(s) during the pursuit including any information
known or suspected that would affect the need to continue/disengage from the
pursuit;
(As available) Whether the requesting agency wishes to retain arrest authority
2
8.
Ventura County Pursuit Protocol
January 20, 2021
over the suspect and the violations likely to be charged (should the assisting
agency successfully stop the fleeing suspects[s]) or relinquishes all interest in
the suspect.
Level of Assistance: The unit requesting assistance shall specify the level of
assistance required as follows:
a. Request for another agency to take over the pursuit.
b.
C.
1. An agency may request, through their agency's communications
center, with approval of the watch commander or field supervisor,
that another agency assume operational control of the pursuit. If the
assisting agency agrees to assume control of the pursuit, the assisting
agency shall dispatch resources to take over for the requesting
agency.
3.
2. Upon the arrival of the first unit from the assisting agency, the
requesting agency's primary unit shall become the secondary unit.
Upon arrival of additional units from the assisting agency, the
remaining requesting agency unit(s) shall disengage from the pursuit.
The agency assuming operational control of the pursuit shall exercise
its own discretion regarding the need to continue or disengage from
the pursuit. Should the requesting agency retain arrest authority, that
agency shall send