Bexar County Sheriff's Office Policy Manual PDF

BEXAR COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE POLICY MANUAL Original Date Effective Date Chapter Number December 1, 2003 September 29, 2023 Twelve Subject Office Prisoners...

BEXAR COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE POLICY MANUAL Original Date Effective Date Chapter Number December 1, 2003 September 29, 2023 Twelve Subject Office Prisoners Sheriff’s Administration References Enclosures None None Distribution Supersedes Reevaluation Date Pages All Sheriff’s Employees November 30, 2012 September 29, 2024 6 Approved by: Javier Salazar, Bexar County Sheriff 12.01 POLICY It is the policy of the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) that persons taken into custody will not be abused, and the individual rights of prisoners must be protected at all times. Until prisoners are accepted at the Bexar County Justice Intake and Assessment Annex (JIAA), their care and custody shall be the responsibility of the arresting/transporting deputy, to include proper restraint, separation, and transport. 12.02 PURPOSE This policy provides guidance for deputies on the proper care and transportation of prisoners from the field to the JIAA and is not meant as a replacement to the standard operating procedures of other branches/sections of the BCSO such as Detention, Court Security, or Judicial Services. Searches under this Chapter refer only to those searches incident to arrest, and in all cases deputies still have the responsibility of ensuring that any search is legally conducted with regards to applicable State or Federal laws. 12.03 DEFINITIONS A. JAIL PRISONERS - A person confined to the Bexar County Adult Detention Center. B. FIELD CUSTODY PRISONERS - A person who is detained in the field, under arrest, and is awaiting transport to the Bexar County Justice Intake and Assessment Annex. 12.04 RESTRAINING PRISONERS A. General Rules 1. Prisoners are to be handcuffed with their hands behind the back unless authorized elsewhere in this chapter, and at all times handcuffs are double-locked and checked for spacing. 2. Deputies may use proper discretion in deciding whether to handcuff certain prisoners. This discretion is guided by consideration of gender, age, temperament, and type of offense committed by the prisoner. In the case of advanced age, injury, physical disability, or other circumstances where they are physically incapable of placing their hands behind their back, the deputy may forgo restraints (except for those prisoners listed in 12.03(A)(3) below) or choose to  handcuff the prisoner to the front. This does not relieve deputies of their duty to maintain complete control of the subject. 3. The following prisoners will be handcuffed in all cases regardless of their gender, age or size: a. Persons charged with felony offenses; b. Persons who are intoxicated; and c. Persons involved in violent incidents or persons who a deputy reasonably believes capable of violent physical resistance due to the totality of the circumstances. 4. Prisoners are handcuffed as soon as practical after the arrest and before the search. 5. Prisoners are not to be handcuffed to a fixed object including eye-bolts or other points of attachment in transport vehicles. 6. Deputies may handcuff two prisoners with a single set of handcuffs while awaiting the arrival of a second deputy. 7. Deputies are responsible for the safety and well-being of their prisoners and will ensure that prisoners are not unnecessarily injured by improperly applied and/or overtightened handcuffs. 8. A prisoner shall not be left handcuffed for an unreasonable length of time. 9. Although due care to preventing prisoner injury from restraints is of great importance it should never supersede deputy safety. Restraints will never be loosened to the point that the prisoner can escape. B. Pregnant Prisoners 1. Restraints shall not be used on either pregnant jail or field custody prisoners beginning on the date which a healthcare professional confirms pregnancy and ending twelve weeks following delivery, unless the deputy handling the prisoner determines one of the following exceptions apply: a. The pregnant prisoner poses an immediate and credible flight risk that cannot reasonably be prevented by other means; b. The pregnant prisoner poses an immediate and serious threat of harm to themselves or others that cannot reasonably be prevented by other means; or c. A healthcare professional responsible for the health and safety of the pregnant prisoner determines that the use of restraints is appropriate for the medical safety of the prisoner. 2. When exceptions are determined, pregnant prisoners shall be handcuffed in the front. 3. If pregnancy is identified and confirmed outside of the intake process, the deputy should notify the on duty supervisor. 2 12.05 SEARCHING OF PRISONERS A. Deputies who have prisoners in their custody or control are responsible for a complete search to remove any weapons, instruments which could be used as weapons, contraband, fruits of a crime, or evidence. 1. Prisoners are searched as soon as practical after the arrest. 2. Each deputy who assumes custody or control over prisoners is responsible for searching them even though they may have already been searched by other deputies. B. Deputies are allowed discretion in conducting the following types of searches, which are approved by the BCSO: 1. Standing relaxed search; 2. Leaning wall search; or 3. Kneeling search. C. Female prisoners are searched by female deputies. 1. In cases where there is reasonable suspicion a female prisoner has on her person a concealed weapon and a female deputy is not available, any deputy may proceed with the necessary search in accordance with any applicable policy and procedure outlined in Chapter 17 Stop and Frisk. 2. Purses, baggage, and other hand-carried containers are searched by all deputies who assume custody or control over the prisoner. 12.06 PROTECTION OF PRISONERS A. Prisoners are entitled to reasonable protection during the entire time of arrest; the arresting and/or transporting deputy will: 1. Use reasonable care and diligence to preserve the lives, health, and safety of their prisoners; 2. Protect prisoners against undue exposure to the elements; and 3. Protect prisoners from assault or harm by others. B. Persons placed under arrest are to be transported to the Bexar County Justice Intake and Assessment Annex (JIAA) without unreasonable delay. 12.07 TRANSPORTING OF PRISONERS A. In the transporting of multiple prisoners in one county owned vehicle, circumstances may dictate additional deputies to assist. 3  1. When it is logical or necessary to transfer a prisoner to another vehicle, the transfer point should be located on the most direct route to the jail and be an open, well-lit area. There is no exchange of handcuffs on the prisoner during the transfer process unless handcuffs can be exchanged while the prisoner remains handcuffed. 2. When prisoners are picked up, the transport vehicle shall not make other stops en route to the jail. 3. Deviations from Paragraph 1 and 2, or the above, occur only with approval of a field supervisor. 4. Female prisoners are not transported in the same vehicle with male prisoners unless they have a husband and wife, parent and child, or brother and sister relationship. Common Law Marriages do not satisfy this requirement. An exception to this rule can be made when the vehicle has separate confinement compartments. 5. Juveniles are not transported in the same patrol vehicle with adults unless they have a husband and wife, parent and child, or brother and sister relationship, or when the vehicle has separate confinement compartments. B. Deputies shall obtain a time check from the dispatcher upon leaving the starting transport location and again upon arrival at the destination. The deputy will also advise dispatch of the transport vehicle’s beginning and ending mileage when transporting female and/or juvenile prisoners. In transporting any prisoner, the deputy will advise dispatch of current start/stop mileage, location and circumstances whenever unavoidably stopped for an unusual amount of time such as at a railroad crossing or due to other road/traffic conditions. C. In case the deputy’s vehicle breaks down or otherwise becomes inoperable, the deputy will immediately notify dispatch of his/her current mileage and location. Dispatch shall send another deputy to complete the transport without unnecessary delay. 12.08 CARE OF PRISONER'S PROPERTY A. Deputies are responsible for safeguarding prisoner’s property. B. Any prisoner property not accepted at the JIAA will be inventoried and placed in the property room, with a notation made on the arrest report. C. If a prisoner's vehicle is impounded, all property in the vehicle is handled in accordance with Chapter 20 Impound and Inventory. 12.09 INJURED AND SICK PRISONERS A. All prisoners visibly injured, sick, claiming injury or illness, and those who are unconscious, will require medical evaluation by an emergency medical service or hospital personnel before they can be transported to the JIAA. B. ESD/EMS personnel will determine whether a prisoner will require transport to a hospital or medical center. 4  1. When a prisoner's injury is slight and does not require immediate medical attention or ambulance transport, they are to be transported to any approved medical facility/clinic by the arresting deputy who will have the prisoner seen, treated, and cleared before transporting them to the JIAA. 2. In the case of serious injury or illness, such as profuse bleeding or other serious bodily injury as well as unconsciousness, ESD/EMS personnel will transport them by ambulance to the appropriate hospital. a. In felony cases, a deputy, acting as guard, follows the ESD/EMS unit to the designated hospital or medical center. b. If requested by ESD/EMS personnel, a deputy will ride in the ambulance to assist the technicians in controlling a violent prisoner. C. When admitting an injured prisoner following emergency room treatment, the arresting deputy will advise their on-duty supervisor of the circumstances of the arrest, and the supervisor will coordinate with the BCSO Adult Detention Center in obtaining a detention deputy to take over guarding the prisoner. It is the responsibility of the Adult Detention Center to provide a deputy to guard hospitalized prisoners once they are admitted into a hospital and awaiting proxy-booking by the BCSO. 12.10 DISPOSITION OF JUVENILE PRISONERS A. Juvenile prisoners are taken directly to the Bexar County Juvenile Detention Center, unless the Criminal Investigation Division needs to interview the juvenile, or requests otherwise. B. Deputies shall immediately notify the parent, guardian, or custodian of any child or juvenile taken into custody, giving them notice of the juvenile’s actions, what the final disposition of the child or juvenile will be, and a statement of the reason for taking the child or juvenile into custody. 12.11 PRISONERS DIVERTED TO THE CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION DIVISION (CID) A. Adult prisoners are normally directly booked into the JIAA, however if it is necessary to bring a prisoner to the CID instead, the following rules apply: 1. The investigator assuming control of the investigation shall immediately inspect the prisoner and note in their report the prisoner’s condition, particularly as it pertains to any injury and/or any statement by the prisoner that they have been physically abused by a deputy; 2. The investigator shall assume responsibility for the security of the prisoner, or if they are occupied with other prisoners, assign one of the arresting deputies to guard the prisoner in order to prevent escape, mistreatment, or abuse; 3. If the prisoner is injured in any way or claims to have been physically abused by a deputy, the investigator shall summon their supervisor, who shall notify the on-duty shift commander of the Patrol Division. The Internal Affairs Unit will also be notified, and the prisoner shall be provided with medical attention, if necessary. 5 12.12 MENTAL HEALTH PRE-SCREENING AND DIVERSION A. Before an arrested person may be released to JIAA personnel, the handling deputy will pre-screen the arrested person using the following four question format: 1. Have you ever been diagnosed as having a mental illness by a doctor or a mental health professional? 2. Have you ever or are you currently taking any medications for mental illness? 3. Have you ever tried to kill yourself? 4. Do you currently have thoughts of killing yourself? B. The answers received from the arrested person, including a refused response, shall be documented on the booking slip. 6