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EMERGENCY B-101 FRESNO COUNTY SHERIFFI'S OFFICE JAIL DIVISION POLICIES AND PROCEDURES TITLE: EMERGENCY PLANNING NO: B-101 FILE: EMERGENCY EFFECTIVE DATE: 05-06-96 REVISED: 07-01-98, 09-01-99, 08-01-03, 09-01-20 AUTHORITY: Sheriff M. Mims APPROVED BY: Assistant Sheriff T. Gattie REFERENCE: California Code of Regulations, Title 15, Section 1029. PURPOSE: The purpose of this policy is to provide a general tactical approach that is applicable across a broad range of emergencies. POLICY: It is the policy of the Fresno County Sheriffs Office Jail Division that all reasonable steps will be taken to prevent emergency situations from occurring and to isolate any disturbances that do occur, to the extent possible. In order to minimize damage to the facility and injuries to employees, visitors, and inmates during an emergency situation, every effort will be made to quickly and effectively respond to the emergency in order to maintain and regain control to ensure a safe and secure environment. PROCEDURES: I. INITIAL INCIDENT COMMANDER A. Throughout this policy, the on-duty Watch Commander is referred to as the Incident Commander. Although the Watch Commander is ultimately the Incident Commander during any extended emergency, it is not necessary for the Watch Commander to supervise all incidents as they occur. Most incidents are able to be handled at line-staff level. Even if a situation escalates into a major emergency, it is necessary for the first responding officer to take initial control of the situation. This officer is known as the "Initial Incident Commander." B. Dependent upon the circumstances, the Initial Incident Commander may maintain control of the situation through completion. Page 1 of 12 FRESNO COUNTY SHERIFFI'S OFFICE JAIL DIVISION POLICIES AND PROCEDURES TITLE: EMERGENCY PLANNING NO: B-101 FILE: EMERGENCY 1. If the Initial Incident Commander (IIC) is uncomfortable in the position, they may relinquish their command as soon as a higher- ranking officer appears on the scene. The higher-ranking officer will then become the Incident Commander. 2. If the IIC is competently managing the situation, it is not necessary for the higher-ranking officer to assume command. 3. However the transition occurs, no assumptions should be made. The IIC should not assume that once a higher-ranking officer arrives that they will take over control, nor should the higher-ranking officer presume to take over control if the IIC is managing competently. Whether the command is relinquished or appropriated, verbalization of the transition needs to occur between the two officers. C. If the situation evolves into an extended emergency, the Watch Commander will assume the role of Incident Commander. 1. Because the Watch Commander does not command the situation from the scene, they will need to assign an "On-Scene Supervisor" to relay their orders. 2. Normally, the Facility Sergeant will assume the role as the On-Scene Supervisor. However, this does not restrict the ability of the Watch Commander to assign an On-Scene Supervisor as they feel appropriate. II. IDENTIFICATION OF HAZARDS The emergency situations faced in the Jail Division generally fall into one of the following categories: A. Natural Disasters. Disaster resulting from destructive forces of nature (e.g., earthquakes, floods, fires). B. Man-made Disaster. Includes hazards unique to correctional and law enforcement agencies, initiated or created by man (e.g., mass arrests, civil disturbances/demonstrations/riots, hostage situations, arson, escapes, food strikes, work stoppages, etc.). C. Technological Disasters. Hazards resulting from technological advancements (e.g., gas, water or electricity loss, protracted computer outage, etc.). Page 2 of 12 FRESNO COUNTY SHERIFFI'S OFFICE JAIL DIVISION POLICIES AND PROCEDURES TITLE: EMERGENCY PLANNING NO: B-101 FILE: EMERGENCY III. GENERAL APPROACH TO EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS A. For any specific type of emergency, there will be some procedures that must be added to this general policy. Nevertheless, this policy has the advantage of providing a relatively simple procedure for emergency mobilization of the jail facilities. It will provide a consistency which will enable jail staff to respond with a single tactical approach. B. Successful handling of operational issues demands time. In some emergencies, sufficient time is just not available. Under such conditions, staff actions should be approximations of optimal procedures, but there will be tasks left undone and other bases not covered. IV. PRIORITY CONCERNS The priority of responsibilities for all staff members during an emergency situation are as follows: A. The safety and protection of the general public. B. The safety and welfare of any hostages. C. Safeguard personnel to prevent loss of life or injuries. D. Prevent loss of life or injuries to inmates. Those inmates not involved directly in the emergency situation will be isolated and protected. E. Maintaining the security of the facility. F. Protection of County property. V. TACTICAL PLAN The tactical plan consists of five (5) phases: A. VERIFICATION, NOTIFICATION AND ASSESSMENT: Verify the initial contact information; report the situation; assess the extent and seriousness of the emergency situation. B. ISOLATE, CONTAIN AND CONTROL: Isolate and contain the emergency situation; secure unaffected areas of the facility; close all avenues of escape. Page 3 of 12 FRESNO COUNTY SHERIFFI'S OFFICE JAIL DIVISION POLICIES AND PROCEDURES TITLE: EMERGENCY PLANNING NO: B-101 FILE: EMERGENCY C. EVACUATE: Remove all inmates, staff and visitors in the danger zone. Identify, debrief and/or interrogate. D. RESOLVE: Restore order and normal conditions as quickly and as fully as possible. E. DEACTIVATE/END: Debrief involved staff; document emergency procedures and preserve evidence. VI. VERIFICATION Initial notice of an emergency situation may come from a call from outside of the facility, from an inmate, or from staff. A. If the initial communication about an emergency is from inmates, or is from an unverified phone call from outside the facility, then some corroboration should be sought immediately. If there is any question about the nature, extent or validity of the emergency situation, then staff should be dispatched to assess the emergency. B. Most frequently, emergency notification will be reported by staff. Notifi- cation should be sufficiently detailed so that no additional verification is needed prior to instituting emergency procedures. VI I. NOTIFICATION A. The first and primary duty of any staff member encountering an emergency situation is to immediately notify their Security Officer and/or Central Control (the Security Officer shall notify Central Control if the Floor Officer has not). Even if the staff member feels they can resolve the problem, they should report prior to taking action. What initially appears to be manageable may quickly escalate into a critical incident (e.g., the staff member may be accidentally injured, cut off from communications or assaulted by inmates). Staff reporting an emergency should be concise, but should include: 1. Name and location of reporting officer 2. Location of incident 3. Nature of incident 4. Number of inmates involved (if any) Page 4 of 12 FRESNO COUNTY SHERIFFI'S OFFICE JAIL DIVISION POLICIES AND PROCEDURES TITLE: EMERGENCY PLANNING NO: B-101 FILE: EMERGENCY 5. Weapons involved (if any) 6. Injuries (if any). Depending on the severity of injury, staff may request an ambulance to respond. B. The Central Control staff member will immediately- 1. Activate a Code 33 (i.e., emergency— clear the radio channel). 2. Notify the Facility Sergeant. 3. Notify Main Jail Central Control. 4. Notify Medical staff within the facility, as appropriate. If the emergency involves a life-threatening medical emergency, Central Control will announce "Code Blue (location of the incident)" via the All Page system, then call and request an ambulance. [Refer also to B-170/Emergency Medical and Fire Department Requests and Responses (FILE: EMS-FIRE).] C. Main Jail Central Control will be responsible to notify the following and advise them of the situation and location: 1. Medical staff, as appropriate. If the emergency involves a medical emergency: a. Notify Medical staff in the Main Jail by announcing "Code Blue" followed by the location of the incident via the All Page system. b. The page shall be followed by a telephone call to the on-duty Charge Nurse, providing details about the type of medical emergency so that Medical staff can respond with the appropriate supplies. 2. The Facility and Administrative Sergeants. If unable to immediately contact a Sergeant, the Watch Commander shall be notified. D. Unless already notified, the Administrative Sergeant will notify the Watch Commander. E. The Watch Commander will be responsible to notify the Jail Operations Bureau Commander or in his/her absence, the Medical & Services Bureau Commander. Depending on the circumstances, the Watch Commander may also: Page 5 of 12 FRESNO COUNTY SHERIFFI'S OFFICE JAIL DIVISION POLICIES AND PROCEDURES TITLE: EMERGENCY PLANNING NO: B-101 FILE: EMERGENCY 1. Assess the need to activate SERT to the scene. The SERT team may be activated by the SERT Commander or the on-duty Watch Commander with the approval of a Jail Bureau Commander. 2. Notify the Patrol Watch Commander and apprise him/her of the incident, as applicable. The Patrol Watch Commander may be requested to activate outside support agencies, equipment, personnel and dispatch a detective to the scene for the crime report. 3. Notify the Peer Support Coordinator, as applicable. F. The Bureau Commander will notify the Assistant Sheriff. Vill. ASSESSMENT A. The Watch Commander will assess the situation and determine the course of action to be taken. Attempts will be made to gather the following information: 1. Exact location and nature of the emergency situation. 2. Identify any agitators. 3. Identify any weapons involved. 4. Identify any staff member(s) involved. 5. Identify the extent of any injuries. 6. Determine any breaches of security. 7. Determine amount of damages. B. The Watch Commander will complete the Incident Commander Checklist/Situation Assessment form as necessary. (See Addendum A.) IX. CONTAINMENT OF THE SCENE A. Once initial notification has been made, the first staff priority is to isolate and secure the area involved. The speed of this initial containment of the emergency situation can be critical in reducing the possibility of involvement of other areas of the facility and in reducing the chance that other kinds of problems will emerge from the tension and turmoil. This will be accomplished by locking down all inmates and doors in the area Page 6 of 12 FRESNO COUNTY SHERIFFI'S OFFICE JAIL DIVISION POLICIES AND PROCEDURES TITLE: EMERGENCY PLANNING NO: B-101 FILE: EMERGENCY and not allowing any inmate movement. All positively identified, non-involved civilians will be removed from the area as soon as possible. B. All nonessential personnel will leave the area. Spectators will not be allowed at the scene. All necessary personnel and staff members at the scene will participate in solving the problem as directed, or be required to leave the area. C. Officers will be utilized to establish an inner perimeter (the area closely surrounding the site) to enclose the incident area. The inner perimeter will contain and block all possible avenues of escape. D. The outer perimeter (an established buffer zone designed to control all traffic into the affected area) will be established using sworn staff to keep the public and press a safe distance from the scene and provide an area for assigned staff to operate. E. No one may enter or leave the inner and/or outer perimeter area without the explicit approval of the Incident Commander. F. The Incident Commander will be notified of the scene containment and all participant identities. G. If the Watch Commander orders the facility locked down, the Central Control Officers will initiate a complete facility lockdown as follows- 1. Notify all security stations to cease all inmate movement and instruct all visitors to leave the visiting areas and return to the Lobby. 2. Notify the Lobby Officers, who shall evacuate all visitors, attorneys, bondsmen and other non-departmental personnel from the facility and secure the Lobby doors. 3. Notify the Booking I Officer that the facility is being locked down and apprise them of the situation. 4. Any additional personnel arriving at the facility to assist shall only enter the facility via the employee entrance door and/or the Enroute Sallyport Door. A positive identification will be made through the Central Control monitors by a Central Control Officer. Page 7 of 12 FRESNO COUNTY SHERIFFI'S OFFICE JAIL DIVISION POLICIES AND PROCEDURES TITLE: EMERGENCY PLANNING NO: B-101 FILE: EMERGENCY X. CONTROL OF THE SCENE A. An on-duty Watch Commander will act as the Incident Commander until officially relieved by a higher-ranking officer in the chain of command. The Incident Commander will be responsible for the supervision and direction of all necessary personnel during the incident. Involved staff members shall execute only those orders issued and shall not initiate any activity on their own. 1. A staff member will be assigned at the scene to keep a log of all events concerning the incident, as they occur. 2. A Central Control Officer will be responsible for documenting all information received at that location. This documentation will be utilized when reports are written following the incident. B. Command of the emergency situation should not be held at the scene. C. If the facility is placed on lockdown or if the situation deems it necessary, the Incident Commander will establish a Command Post Station, outside the inner perimeter and inside the outer perimeter, to determine further logistic and personnel requirements and applications. D. If the Incident Commander needs to personally assess the situation, they should return to the Command Post as quickly as possible and establish command from there. E. Unless otherwise assigned, the Facility Sergeant should assume the role as the "On-Scene Supervisor" and attempt to establish contact with the Incident Commander at the Command Post. In the absence of the sergeant, the Initial Incident Commander (or highest-ranking officer) should assume the role until the role is otherwise assigned by the Watch Commander. F. As soon as possible, the staff member having initial contact with the situation (i.e., the Initial Incident Commander) should be relieved of their post and brought to the Command Post to inform the Incident Commander about the nature of the situation and its development. G. No one will be allowed to contact any staff members or inmates at the scene without the Incident Commander's knowledge and approval. Page 8 of 12 FRESNO COUNTY SHERIFFI'S OFFICE JAIL DIVISION POLICIES AND PROCEDURES TITLE: EMERGENCY PLANNING NO: B-101 FILE: EMERGENCY H. The Incident Commander shall be responsible for ensuring that the PIO is informed of events that may have media interest. 1. The PIO will disseminate all releasable information to the news media. 2. Staff shall not make any statements to the news media without the prior approval of the Bureau Commander. Any information released shall be forwarded to the PIO to ensure continuity of the information released. [Refer to policy D-410/Public Information (INFORMATION).] XI. EVACUATE A. Initial evacuation of visitors and nonessential staff should be initiated immediately. B. Uninvolved inmates in the affected area should be given the opportunity to get out. It may be necessary to make repeated announcements into the affected area asking that uninvolved inmates leave by a given door or go to a certain area and sit or lie down. 1. Normally, many of the inmates in an area of disturbance do not want to remain there and if staff is successful in getting those inmates out of the area, the size of the problem may be much easier dealt with. 2. This tactic will not always work because of peer pressure. C. Inmate evacuation should be a last resort and should be considered in the following order- 1. Evacuate to another unaffected area within the same facility. 2. Evacuate to another jail facility. 3. Evacuate to other secure areas. D. Whether evacuation is immediate or not, it should follow predetermined routes and the destination known prior to beginning transport. Time to set up and post armed security outside of facility evacuation exits must be taken into consideration. Page 9 of 12 FRESNO COUNTY SHERIFFI'S OFFICE JAIL DIVISION POLICIES AND PROCEDURES TITLE: EMERGENCY PLANNING NO: B-101 FILE: EMERGENCY XII. RESOLVE A. This is the only phase of the tactical plan that will be dramatically different for almost every type of major emergency. For a fire, this part of the plan means simply putting out the fire, but it can also mean securing the release of hostages, or regaining control of a housing unit. B. Although resolving different types of emergencies involves very different kinds of staff actions, there is at least one commonality: staff actions should be directed from the Command Post. The Incident Commander will formulate a plan to take the necessary actions to terminate the emergency situation. More complex situations may require the involvement and collaboration of the SERT and Bureau Commanders. XIII. DEACTIVATE/END THE INCIDENT Upon the termination of the emergency situation (and assuming that any emergency medical assistance has already been rendered), the Incident Commander will ensure that the following actions are taken: A. Secure the scene from contamination and loss of evidence. Once the area has been secured, all non-essential personnel need to vacate the scene, so as not to corrupt the area or interfere with the ensuing investigation. 1. The area is not to be cleaned prior to the arrival of investigators. 2. Evidence should not be disturbed, unless necessary for safety or security reasons. All evidence is to be included in a chain of custody. 3. If the area is secure, loose weapons should be left in place and undisturbed. If the area is not secure, the weapon shall be promptly collected and safeguarded. The weapon should be photographed in place prior to collection, unless security considerations dictate otherwise. B. Account for all staff and clear an inmate count. 1. Check involved staff, inmates and visitors for medical and/or psychiatric/mental health needs. Ensure medical attention is given to those in need. Page 10 of 12 FRESNO COUNTY SHERIFFI'S OFFICE JAIL DIVISION POLICIES AND PROCEDURES TITLE: EMERGENCY PLANNING NO: B-101 FILE: EMERGENCY 2. Create a list of all involved personnel, including Medical staff. All involved personnel will need to remain on-site until interviewed by investigators. C. Identify all potential inmate witnesses, suspects, and informants. Separate them from each other and keep them isolated for subsequent interviews. Where evidence points specifically to the involvement of certain persons they should be separated without delay from everyone else and placed in an area that prevents them from washing themselves or clothing. D. Notify all uninvolved staff and inmates that the situation is over. E. Return the facility to full normal operations as soon as possible after the incident. XIV. DOCUMENTATION AND FOLLOW-UP A. Staff members involved may be assigned to write an incident report regarding their role in the incident. 1. Serious incidents involving inmates, including all uses of force, are to be documented, and such documentation is to be reviewed by a Sergeant prior to the end of the work shift. A delay may be approved in advance by a Watch Commander, only when based upon exigent circumstances. 2. All documented incidents of the use of force are to be reviewed by the on-duty Watch Commander within twenty-four (24) hours of the report being submitted. B. Use of force incidents resulting in serious bodily injury or death will be investigated by the Detective Bureau. No reports will be written until the detectives arrive on scene. Detectives will coordinate with the Watch Commander to determine which correctional staff and Jail Medical staff need to be interviewed and which staff members should write a Jail incident report. 1. The Facility Sergeant (or a Compliance Sergeant) will be responsible to download any video surveillance footage related to the incident. Page 11 of 12 FRESNO COUNTY SHERIFFI'S OFFICE JAIL DIVISION POLICIES AND PROCEDURES TITLE: EMERGENCY PLANNING NO: B-101 FILE: EMERGENCY 2. If photographs have been taken by Jail staff, investigators shall be advised of such. 3. If no reports are to be written by involved officers, a Jail supervisor shall complete an incident report documenting the occurrence and cross-referencing the detective's incident/crime report. C. Significant incidents shall be forwarded through the chain of command for review by the Bureau Commander, Assistant Sheriff, Undersheriff, up to and including the Sheriff, as appropriate. D. The Incident Commander shall conduct a debriefing with all responding staff, including medical responders, as soon as possible, but no later than seven (7) days following the incident. Staff should examine the incident from the perspective of what worked, what actions were less than optimal and how the response to a future incident might be improved. E. A critique of the incident will be conducted within seven (7) days, which will include all staff members involved during the incident. The purpose for this meeting is to establish the need for changes in the current policies and procedures and/or discuss any issues raised during the incident. A written critique of the incident will be submitted to the Jail Operations Bureau Commander by the Incident Commander. F. All documented incidents involving use of force and other serious incidents are reviewed on a monthly basis by Jail Command Staff (Captains and Lieutenants). The review is intended to assess conformance and effectiveness of the policies and procedures. Corrective action will be taken as needed to remedy identified deficiencies. [Refer to policy A-135/Quality Assurance Review(FILE: QUALITY ASSURANCE).] Page 12 of 12