Patrol Procedures Basic Concepts

Introduction

  • This guide serves as a comprehensive learning resource for students during their Basic Law Enforcement Academy (BLEA) session, designed to equip them with foundational knowledge and practical skills for patrol procedures.

  • Disclaimer: The guide is not to be used as a standalone legal reference outside of BLEA. Officers should always rely on up-to-date confidential counsel, current departmental regulations, evolving case law, and specific state statutes for legal guidance in real-world scenarios. This ensures adherence to the most current legal standards and best practices.

Contents Overview

  • General Priorities: Defining the essential order of operations in any police contact.

  • De-Escalation: Strategies and techniques to minimize the use of force.

  • 5 Principles: Core tenets guiding effective patrol work.

  • Preflexfirst: An immediate action checklist for officer safety.

  • People: Understanding subject interaction and communication.

  • Key Concepts: Investigations: Foundational elements for conducting thorough inquiries.

  • Article 1, Section 7 (Constitution of Washington): Understanding privacy rights within the state.

  • Exceptions to Warrant Requirement: Circumstances allowing legal searches or seizures without a warrant.

  • Arrest Without Warrant: Legal grounds for apprehension without prior judicial order.

  • Probable Cause: The standard for justifying arrests and searches.

  • Reasonable Suspicion (Terry Stop): The lower standard for temporary detentions.

  • Social Contacts: Interactions that do not constitute a detention or seizure.

  • Searches and Frisks: General: Overarching rules for these interventions.

  • Searches: Detailed rules and justifications for comprehensive examinations.

  • Frisks: Specific rules for pat-down searches for weapons.

  • Miranda: Rights afforded to suspects during custodial interrogation.

  • Court Rule Right to Counsel: Additional protections regarding legal representation.

  • Recording Miranda and Custodial Interrogations: Protocols for documenting these interactions.

  • Juvenile Access to Attorney: Specific rights for minors.

  • Open Carry and Concealed Weapons: Laws regarding firearms possession.

  • Warrant Arrest and Court Order Procedures: Execution of judicial directives.

  • Other Arrests: Situations not involving warrants.

  • Inference of Intent—Burglary: How intent is established in property crimes.

  • Criminal Attempt: Elements of incomplete criminal acts.

  • Vehicle Prowling in the 2nd Degree: Specifics of this property crime.

  • Criminal Trespass in the 2nd Degree: Elements of unauthorized entry.

  • Crisis Incidents: Responses to situations involving individuals in mental or emotional distress.

  • Key Concepts: Crisis Incidents: Core principles for managing these situations.

  • ITA: Legal Authority: Involuntary Treatment Act justifications.

  • Domestic Violence Investigations: Specific procedures for these sensitive cases.

  • Consent: Voluntary agreement for entry or search.

  • Multiple People: Consent: Considerations when multiple parties are involved.

  • Thresholds: Legal standards for different levels of police intervention.

  • Exigency: Emergency circumstances allowing warrantless action.

  • Emergency/Community Caretaking: Actions taken to protect life or property, or provide aid.

  • Scene Control (Safety): Managing an incident location to ensure safety.

  • Protective Sweep: Limited warrantless searches for threats.

  • Investigation (Story): Comprehending the narrative of an incident.

  • Identification and Verification (Start Writing): Confirming identities and initiating documentation.

  • Mandatory Arrests: Situations requiring arrest by law.

  • Court Orders: Enforcement of judicial commands.

  • Domestic Violence Documentation: Specific reporting requirements.

  • Interviews and Reports: Best practices for gathering and compiling information.

General Interview Format

  • Introduction and identification of self: Approach the subject calmly, establish rapport by introducing yourself and your agency, and clearly explain the purpose of your contact to foster cooperation and transparency.

  • Story Inquiry:

    • Ask open-ended questions to allow the individual to provide their narrative freely, focusing on identifying the sequence of events, relationships between involved parties, precise times, and specific locations of the incident. Avoid leading questions and listen actively.

    • Initially avoid holding a notebook; focus on maintaining eye contact and engaging in verbal interactions to build trust and gather initial uninhibited information. This allows for better observation of non-verbal cues.

  • Documentation preparation:

    • After the initial conversation, recap your understanding of the incident to the subject, ensuring accuracy and clarifying any ambiguities before recording details. This confirms you have assimilated the correct information.

    • Confirm identities of all involved parties, and run names through relevant databases for warrants, protective orders, or other pertinent information to ensure officer safety and comprehensive investigation.

Health and Safety Queries

  • Proactively query all involved parties about any medical attention needs, injuries, or concerns for their immediate health and safety. This includes assessing for trauma, distress, or any signs requiring medical intervention.

General Priorities

  • Safety: Maintaining scene safety for officers, victims, suspects, and the public is the absolute top priority. This involves identifying and mitigating threats, controlling access, and securing the environment.

  • Story: Thoroughly understand what happened by actively listening to all accounts, asking clarifying questions, and gathering facts from all available sources to construct a clear and accurate narrative of the incident.

  • Start Writing: Begin documenting all relevant information, including observations, statements, evidence, and actions taken, as early as practical. Comprehensive and timely documentation is crucial for accurate reporting, legal proceedings, and future reference.

De-Escalation

  • Defined as actions and communication strategies taken to proactively minimize the need for the use of physical force in a situation, aiming to gain voluntary compliance from subjects (RCW 10.120.010).

  • Expected when alternatives are tactically feasible and available to resolve a situation safely and effectively, prioritizing verbal communication and non-physical interventions where appropriate.

Five Principles of Patrol Procedure

  1. Legal Authority: Every action taken by an officer must be based on a clear legal foundation, which includes operating in a public space, possessing a valid warrant, obtaining informed consent, exercising community caretaking/emergency powers, or acting under exigent circumstances that justify immediate intervention without a warrant.

  2. Threat Management: Continuously assess and identify potential threats by observing hands (potential for weapons or assault), identifying visible or concealed weapons, and monitoring subject movement. This dynamic assessment guides appropriate tactical responses.

  3. Position and Movement: Strategically control contact with subjects by maintaining proper distance and angles (the 'contact' officer), while simultaneously ensuring a backup officer (the 'cover' officer) is positioned to observe, protect, and provide support. Effective movement prevents officers from being flanked or put in disadvantageous positions.

  4. Communication: Establish rapport through professional and respectful dialogue, provide clear and concise expectations to subjects regarding desired actions, and use active listening to understand their perspective. Effective communication is paramount for de-escalation and gaining compliance.

  5. Equipment Management: Ensure all assigned equipment (e.g., duty belt tools, radio, body camera, notepad) is properly organized, functional, readily accessible, and used effectively. This includes activating body-worn cameras and ensuring proper documentation tools are at hand.

Preflexfirst

  • Breathe: Take deliberate, calming breaths (e.g., tactical breathing) to manage stress, maintain emotional control, and enhance focus under pressure. This physiological reset helps process information more effectively.

  • Scan: Utilize all senses to perform a rapid 360-degree assessment of the immediate environment, identifying potential threats (e.g., additional subjects, weapons, escape routes) and critical information that may impact officer safety or objective.

  • Position: Be consciously aware of your tactical positioning relative to subjects, potential threats, and available cover. Always strive to maintain an advantage, control the subject's access, and avoid being put at a disadvantage.

  • Cover: Immediately identify and utilize available cover (e.g., vehicles, structural elements) that provides ballistic protection or concealment from potential threats. When cover is not available, dynamically create distance or move to a more advantageous position.

  • Connect: Make a conscious effort to establish clear and purposeful communication with subjects. This involves verbal commands, rapport-building, and active listening to assess their intent and gain cooperation if possible.

  • Escape: Continuously identify and maintain awareness of viable escape routes for yourself and your team. Having an exit strategy is critical for minimizing risk if a situation escalates beyond control or becomes unsafe.

Key Concepts: Investigations
Legal Authority (Public Contact)

  • Established through specific legal justifications, which include contacts occurring in a public area where no privacy expectation exists, voluntary consent from an individual for interaction or search, the execution of a valid warrant, actions taken under community caretaking or emergency circumstances where immediate intervention is required, or situations involving exigency that permit warrantless action.

Investigative Procedures

  • Contact/Cover: Implement the fundamental tactic where one officer (contact) primarily interacts with the subject, while a second officer (cover) maintains an observation position, scanning for threats and providing support. This ensures officer safety and tactical readiness.

  • De-escalation Techniques: Prioritize rapport building through calm and respectful communication, active listening, and clear articulation of officer presence and purpose. The goal is to minimize physical coercion by encouraging voluntary compliance and understanding, thus reducing the need for force.

Legal Framework
Article 1, Section 7 (Washington Constitution)

  • This fundamental provision states that no person shall be disturbed in his private affairs or have his home invaded without clear legal authority. It provides stronger privacy protections for individuals in Washington State compared to the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, often requiring higher levels of justification for police intrusion into private matters or spaces.

Exceptions to Warrant Requirement

  • General rule: Warrantless seizures and searches are presumptively unreasonable per se under both the Fourth Amendment and Article 1, Section 7, unless they fall under a narrowly defined exception. Common exceptions include voluntary consent, exigent circumstances (e.g., hot pursuit, destruction of evidence, immediate danger), search incident to lawful arrest, plain view, inventory searches, and the automobile exception, each with specific criteria that must be met.

Reasonable Suspicion (Terry Stop)

  • Justifies temporary investigative detention of an individual based on specific, articulable facts and rational inferences that indicate criminal activity is afoot (Terry v. Ohio). This standard is lower than probable cause but requires more than a mere hunch. Officers must be able to explain why they suspected criminal activity, describing the specific behaviors or circumstances observed. The scope of a Terry stop is limited to confirming or dispelling the suspicion, and a pat-down (frisk) is only permissible if there is reasonable suspicion the person is armed and dangerous.

Search and Seizures
General Guidelines

  • All searches and frisks must follow strict legal protocols, departmental policies, and constitutional requirements. Officers must articulate proper justification and operate within the scope of the legal authority granted. Use of appropriate equipment (e.g., gloves for evidence collection) and techniques (e.g., systematic searching) is essential to ensure safety, preserve evidence, and maintain the integrity of the investigation.

Frisk vs Search

  • Frisks are limited, pat-down searches of a person's outer clothing, conducted solely for the purpose of detecting weapons, usually based on reasonable suspicion that the person is armed and dangerous. Its scope is strictly confined to objects that reasonably feel like weapons.

  • Searches are typically more extensive examinations of a person, vehicle, or area, and require a higher degree of legal justification, such as probable cause, a warrant, consent, or a recognized exception to the warrant rule. The purpose of a search is to locate evidence of a crime, contraband, or other items specified in a warrant.

Miranda Rights

  • Miranda warnings (