Resolution No. 5884
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RESOLUTION NO. 5884
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A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF VERNON RATIFYING AND ADOPTING A
POLICE DEPARTMENT VEHICLE PURSUIT POLICY
PURSUANT TO VEHICLE CODE SECTION 17004.7
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WHEREAS, in 1980, the Vernon police Department adopted
a written Vehicle pursuit Policy to assist its police officers
in conducting vehicle pursuits; and
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WHEREAS, California Vehicle Code section 17004.7
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provides th~t a public agency employing peace officers which
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adopts a written policy on vehicular pursuits that meets the
minimum standards set forth in that section is immune from
liability for civil damages for personal injury to or death of
any person or damage to property resulting from the collision of
a vehicle being pursued by a police vehicle; and
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WHEREAS, Vernon Police Department's Vehicle Pursuit
policy meets the standards set forth in California Vehicle Code
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section 17004.7(c); and
WHEREAS, the City Council of the city or. Vernon has
reviewed the pursuit policy adopted by the Vernon Police
Department.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF
THE CITY OF VERNON AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1: The City Council of the City of Vernon
hereby finds and determines that the recitals contained
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hereinabove are true and correct.
SECTION 2: The City Council of the City of Vernon
hereby ratifies and adopts the Police Department's Vehicle
Pursuit pOlicy, dated September 17, 1980, pursuant to Vehicle
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.
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Code section 17004.7, a copy of which has been presented to the
City Council concurrently with this resolution, and the City
Council hereby orders said Policy to be received and filed by
the City Clerk.
SECTION 3: The City Clerk of the City of Vernon shall
certify to the passage of this resolution and thereupon and
thereafter the same shall be in full force and effect.
APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 19th 'day of February, 1991.
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ATTEST: ~. /7~.
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BRUCE V. MALKENHORST, City Clerk
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STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
)ss
COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES )
I, BRUCE V. MALKENHORST, City Clerk of the city of
Vernon, do hereby certify that the foregoing Resolution, being
Resolution No. 5884, was duly adopted by the city council of the
City of Vernon at a regular meeting of the Ci ty Council duly
held on Tuesday, February 19, 1991, and thereafter duly signed
by the Mayor of the City of Vernon.
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BRUCE V.
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MALKENHORST, City Clerk
(SEAL)
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tl-Q~\~\S~~ ~~~~ VERNON POLlCE DEPARTMENT PURSUIT POLICY
'C~' C\~
1. POLICY - It is the policy of this department that vehicular
pursuits of suspects~ when deemed necessary~ be conducted
. in such a manner so as to safeguard the lives of police
personnel and members of the community~ and to nnnimize
the possiblity of injury to property, both public and
pri vate.
The number and type of police units participating in a
pursuit shall be limited and all personnel shall adhere
to the pursuit procedures as noted in this section.
I I. PROCEDURE
1. WHEN TO INITIATE A VEHICULAR PURSUIT - Pursuits should
be ihitiated only when a law violator clearly exhibits
the intention of avoiding arrest by using a vehicle to
flee; or~ when a suspected law violator refuses to stop
and uses a vehicle to flee.
A. Officers intending to stop a vehicle shall be \'lithin
close proximi ty to the viol atorl s vehi cle before
activating the red lights and attempting' the stop.
the violator's temptation to evade a police contact
. would be greater in those instances where it appEtars
he has a "head start".
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2. PURSUITPROCEOURES - To be deemed an emergency vehicle~
both the red lights and siren on a police vehicle must
be in operation. The red lights and siren shall be
activated whenever it is necessary to disregard pro-
visions of Division 11 of the Vehicle Code~ I-Rules of
the Road". Thi s exemption ~ granted to emergency vehicles
by Section 21055 VC~ does not relieve the driver from theu
duty to drive with due regard for the ,safety of all
persons using the highway~ nor'protect him from the.
consequences of an arbitrary exercise of the privileges
gnn~d. '
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A. Number of Police Units Participating
1. The officers in the initial pursuing unit and
in a secondary unit shall pursue a suspect
fleeing in a vehicle. Officers in all other
units shall stay clear of the pursuit~ but
remain alert to its progress and location,
unless directed to do othen~ise.
EXCEPTION: In the event a pursuit is initiated
by an Officer on a tMo-wheeled
motorcycle or an unmarked police car
the pursuing officer shall abandon
the pursuit when a f~ur-wheeled marked
police unit has joined the pursuit.
The motor unit or plain unmarked car
shall then proceed at a safe speed
to the termination roint of the
pursui t.
The initiating officer of the pursuit may request
additional units to join the pursuit~ if it
appears the officers in the two vehicles involved
would not be sufficient to safely effect the
arrest of the suspects.
B. Control of the Pursuit
1. Unit Initiating the Pursuit - The first re-
sponsibility of the officers initiating the
purs~it (primar,y unit) is the apprehension of
'the suspects without unnecessarily endangering
themselves or other person~. The senior officer
of the primary unit shall be responsible for
seeing that a broadcast describing the nature
of the violation and on the progress-of the
pursuit and for controlling the pursuit tactics~
including the decision as to whether to become
involved in a pursuit; whether more than two
units should join the pursuit; and deciding if
the pursuit should be abandoned. If the unit
initiating the pursuit cannot continue as the ,
primar,y unitt the next unit following the pursued
vehicle shall become the primary unit.
Secondary Unit - The nearest unit to the pursuit
shall be assigned as the secondarYt or back-up unit~
and the responsible field supervisor shall
ensure that no additional units become involved
in the pursuit~ unless assigned by the Watch
Commander thru Communications. The officers in
the second unit joining the pursuit shall
immediately notify Communications that there'are
two units in th~ pursuit. When Communications
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broadcasts this infonnation~ it will assist
other responding officers in deciding their
course of action. When more than two vehicles
are involved~ officers in the secondary unit
shall advise Communications, who will direct
all vehicles other than the first two units to
abandon the pursuit (unless the initiating unit
has reported a need for additional units).
C. Pursuit Driving Tactics
1. There should be no paralleling of the pursuit
route~ unless the pursuit passes through a
unit's assigned area. Units paralleling a
pursuit shall not exceed safe driving procedures.
The paralleling unit shall not join or interfere
with the pursuit and shall curtail all pursuit
related activity at the boundary of its assigned
areas~ unless requested to do so by the initiating
unit or: ,field supervisor.
2. The primary and the secondary pursuing units shall
be the only units driving "Code 3n~ unless'
additional units are assigned to the pursuit.
3. There shall be no caravaning by field units
paralleling the pursuit or attempting to join
the pursui t.
4. Officers involved in a pursuit, or paralleling
a pursuit~ shall not attempt to pass other police
units engaged in pursuit-related activity~ unl~s
at the request of the officers in the other unit.
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5.. There shall generally be no attempts to stop
pursued suspects by "boxing in"~ or driving
abreast to their vehicle with a police vehicle
or by roadblocking the pursuit route~ unless
abso lute ly necessary.
6. Officers shall not discharge firearms at the
fleeing vehicle for the sole purpose of stopping
the vehicle~ unless other circumstances indicate
that the suspect(s) are using~ or about to use~
deadly force against the officers.
D. Loss of PurSued Vehicle
\~hen the pursued vehicle is lost~ officers in the
primary unit shall immediately broadcast necessary
information to Communications. Upon receiving the
Communications broadcast that the suspect's vehicle
was ,lost~ all involved officers shall resume normal
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non-pursuit operations of their police vehicles.
The primary unit shall broadcast supplemental
information and coordinate the search as needed.
E. Termination of the Pursuit
Officers in the primary pursuing unit are responsible
for the arrest of the suspect when the suspect
vol untari ly concl udes hi s escape effort or if he
becomes involved in a traffic accident. Officers
in the secondary unit shall be responsible for
backing up the primary unit and broadcasting
pertinent information at the termination of the
vehicular pursuit. This procedure frees officers
in the primary unit to arrest the suspect or enter
into foot pursuit without stopping to 'inform
Corrmuni cations of the; r movements. If the suspect
attempts to flee on foot, the senior officer in the
secondary unit or a responding supervisor~ should
coordinate ,the efforts of responding units.
F. Discontinue the Pursuit
1. Officers involved in a pursuit nIDst continually
question whether the seriousness of .the violation
reasonably warrants continuation of the pursuit.
2. 'A pursuit shall be discontinued when there is a clear
danger to the public or to the pursuing officers. .
A clear danger exists when speeds dangerously
exceed the normal flow of traffic; or~ where
pedestrian or vehicular traffic necessitates
unsafe maneuvering of the vehicle. In additio~
to the present danger. the seriousness of the crime.
length of the pursuit, and the possibil i ty of
identifying the suspect at a later time are some
of the factors which must be considered when the
decision to continue or abandon a pursuit is made.
3. The senior officer in the primary pursuit vehicle
shall be responsible for making the decision to
continue pursuit in the absence of an order fr.om
the Watch Commander or field supervisor to end the
pursuit. The Watch Commander has the right to
termin?te the pursuit.
4. In those .pursuits that extend to such a distance
that radio 'contact is lost between the base station
and the pursuing unit(s)~ and it is evident that the
pursued vehicle is not going to stop~ then the pursuit
shall be terminated at that point in time. '
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III. SUPERVISOR'S RESPONSIBILITIES - A field superv4sor shall
respond immediately to the termination point of the pursuit.
He shall be responsible for controlling police actions at
the scene and ensuring adherence to department policies. He
shall retain this reponsibility until the suspect is booked or
released and all reports are completed. He shall submit a
report to the Watch Commander, containing the facts of the
pursuit and his critique of the pursuit, with particular
emphasis on the degree of compliance with vehicular pursuit
policies established by the department.
IV. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS
A. Pursuit Outside the City - A pursuit originating in
the Ci ty of Vernon by department personne,l need
not be concluded merely because the suspect flees into
another city or county area. Unless otherwise directed
by the Watch Commander of field supervisor to ent the
pursuit, officers may continue at their own discretion
while keeping the aforementioned pursuit procedures
in mind. Responsibility for curtailing a pursuit
which has gone into another jurisdictfon \"il still
rest with the senior officer in the primary pursuit vehicle.
1. Communications shall imnediately notify the appropriate
law enforcement agency when a Vernon pursuit leaves
the City 1 imits. '
B. Pursuits by Other Agencies Coming into Vernon -
Personnel of this department~ upon being appraised
of a pursuit within our City limits by officers of
another agency or upon observing such pursuit> shall
not joi n in the pursui t unless so di rected by the .
Watch Commander or field supervisor~ however~ shall
monitor "the pursuit. '
C. Pursuit of Suspects for Crimes Observed by Department
Personnel Occurring Outside the City
1. Officers of this department~ upon obs,erving a crime
committed outside -the City (except minor traffic
violations) shall relay all pertinent information
to the appropriate law enforcement agency through
Cornmunications~ time permitting. Officers may
effect an "arrest or maintain moving or stationary
surveillance of the suspect(s) until arrival of
the other department.
2. Officers of this department shall only become involved
in an actual pursuit originating and occurring outside
the City When a serious public offense is known to
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have been committed or when they have reason to
believe the suspect(s) has committed a ~erious
felony.
APPROVED BY:
~ffective: September 17~ 1980
Revi sed:
January 13~ 1981
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