Standards

Chapter 1. Role and Responsibility

• 1.1

  The agency shall have a written mission statement, which defines its role and is distributed to all personnel.

• 1.2

  The agency shall have a written directive that requires all personnel, prior to assuming sworn status, to take and subsequently abide by an oath of office and to enforce the law.

• 1.3

  The agency shall have a written directive requiring all personnel to abide by a code or canon of ethics adopted or created by the agency and receive biennial ethics training.

• 1.4

  The agency shall have a written directive that specifies a code of conduct for all personnel.

• 1.5

  The agency shall have a written directive that specifies appearance guidelines for all agency personnel.

• 1.6

  The agency shall require all sworn officers to complete the BLEOST mandated training prior to routine assignment in any capacity in which the officer is allowed to carry a weapon or is in a position to make an arrest except during a Field Training program.

• 1.7

  The agency shall have a written directive that requires the agency to update records of all personnel following their participation in training programs.

• 1.8

  The agency shall have a written directive that specifies the procedures for any arrest, made with or without a warrant.

• 1.9

  The agency shall have a written directive, which states that personnel shall only use the reasonable force necessary to accomplish lawful objectives.

• 1.10

  The agency shall have a written directive stating that an officer may use deadly force only when the officer reasonably believes that the action is in defense of human life, including the officer's own life, or in defense of any person in immediate danger of serious physical injury. Definitions of conditional terms, such as those for reasonable belief, serious physical injury, or similarly used terms that are used to qualify the directive shall be included.

• 1.11

  The agency has a written directive that requires each sworn officer receive annual in-service training to include legal updates.

• 1.12

  The agency shall have a written directive that requires all personnel dealing with the public receive awareness training on dealing with the mentally ill or persons with diminished capacity at least every three years.

• 1.13

  At least annually, all agency personnel who carry less lethal or lethal weapons are required to receive in-service training on agency’s use of force policies.

• 1.14

  At least annually, all agency personnel authorized to carry lethal weapons will demonstrate proficiency with each issued or approved lethal weapon.

• 1.15

  The Agency has a written directive governing the discharge of warning shots.

• 1.16

  At least annually, all agency personnel authorized to carry electronic control devices will receive training on procedures, operations, and manufacturers recommended requirements for the agency’s electronic control devices.

• 1.17

  At least biennially all agency personnel authorized to carry less lethal weapons will demonstrate proficiency with all authorized less lethal weapons.

• 1.18

  The agency shall have a written directive that requires medical aid as determined by the agency after any use of force that results in, or is alleged to have resulted in, injury or death of another person.

• 1.19

  The agency shall have a directive that requires only weapons and ammunition meeting agency authorized specifications be used by agency personnel in law enforcement responsibilities both on duty, off duty, and working extra duty. The directive must address:

• 1.20

  The Agency has a written directive notifying personnel when they are authorized to legally carry and use a weapon both on-duty and off-duty.

• 1.21

  The agency shall require a written report to be submitted whenever an employee:

• 1.22

  The agency has a procedure for reviewing the agency's use of force reports.

• 1.23

  The agency will prepare a written annual analysis of all use of force incidents.

• 1.24

  The agency shall have a written directive that requires the removal from line-duty assignment, pending administrative review, any employee whose actions or use of force results in a death or serious injury.

• 1.25

  The agency shall have a written directive that prohibits bias based profiling by all enforcement personnel. This directive shall also include provisions for annual training of enforcement personnel.