Chapter 27 Coordination During Jail Escapes PDF

CHAPTER 27 – COORDINATION DURING JAIL ESCAPES REV. NOVEMBER 30, 2012 27.01 INTRODUCTION A. Coordination between the various sections and divisions of the Sheriff’s Office, the jail and outside agencies is essential to any organized and successful search for jail escapees. B. Elapsed ti...

CHAPTER 27 – COORDINATION DURING JAIL ESCAPES REV. NOVEMBER 30, 2012 27.01 INTRODUCTION A. Coordination between the various sections and divisions of the Sheriff’s Office, the jail and outside agencies is essential to any organized and successful search for jail escapees. B. Elapsed time between the actual escape and the deployment of units to search must be held to an absolute minimum in order to have any reasonable chance of success in the immediate capture of the escapee. C. Available information must be accurate and complete, and quickly disseminated to the relevant units and agencies. Without accurate and complete information about the escape and the escapee, any search will be a waste of time. D. An organized plan or method to any search is essential. Various buildings and locations in the immediate area of the jail must be identified and rated as potential hiding places. Furthermore, the escapee’s friends and families must be targeted. 27.02 MANDATORY RESPONSIBILITIES OR SUPERVISORS A. Upon receiving information of a possible jail escape, the on-duty Detention Shift Commander in Detention shall take the following steps: 1. Confirm, as expeditiously as possible, whether an escape has in fact occurred by ordering a facility emergency head count and lock down (“Freeze”). The Shift Commander shall mobilize the S.E.R.T who will search the internal facility areas. Additional staff may be designated to assist in the search, without jeopardizing any of the other areas of the facility, at the Shift Commander’s discretion. All visitors leaving the building must produce proof of identification. 2. Quickly gather the basic facts about the escape and escapee, to include. a. The time of escape b. Location of escape c. Identity and description of escapee d. The clothing of the escapee e. Direction of flight 3. Contact the on-duty Criminal Investigation Division supervisor and provide the supervisor the above information. Then contact the Communications dispatcher to issue an APB (All Points Bulletin) for all law enforcement agencies. Effective date April 30, 2014 278  4. Contact Central Records and request multiple copies of the escapee’s mug shots (prisoner picture) and rap sheets (criminal history) so they are made available. 5. Contact the Classification Section and order that the escapee’s classification records are immediately delivered to the Criminal Investigations Division shift supervisor to include names of inmates assigned to the same unit where the escape occurred. 6. Contact the Information Desk and order that the escapee’s visitation list be immediately delivered to the Criminal Investigations Division shift supervisor. 7. Order the responsible floor sergeant to secure the escapee’s cell or unit and collect all of the escapee’s possessions. Deliver these possessions immediately to the Criminal Investigation Division shift supervisor. 8. Provide officers to escort the escapee’s cellmates to the Criminal Investigations Division for interrogation. 9. Contact the Sheriff, the Adult Detention Administrator and the Assistant Administrator and advise them of the details. NOTE: The above steps should be completed within five (5) to fifteen (15) minutes of the first notice of the escape. The Detention Shift Commander has perhaps the most vital role in the whole process because he initiates the process and has the responsibility of informing the law enforcement units of necessary information to conduct the search. 27.03 CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS DIVISION SHIFT COMMANDER (CID) A. The Criminal Investigations Division Shift Commander or designated supervisor shall coordinate the search and deployment of units in the field. The CID on-duty supervisor shall take the following steps: 1. Upon receiving the necessary information about the escape and escapee, command post shall be established and all available on-duty investigators and warrant officers are to be summoned to return to the Sheriff’s Office for deployment in the search. This can be accomplished through the Communications Dispatch. If necessary, off-duty investigators and off-duty warrant officers shall be summoned to the Sheriff’s Office for deployment. a. Advise the CID Deputy Chief and the on-duty Patrol Division Supervisor of the situation. Advise the Communication Center of the escape and have them initiate their plan of action. b. Investigators and warrant officers shall be briefed and deployed as they arrive at the Sheriff’s Office. Each unit of investigators and warrant officers shall receive a copy of the escapee’s mug shot and criminal history sheet. Each unit receives a specific assignment to perform. 2. Specific assignments are necessary to assure that all possible locations are checked and there is no duplication of effort. It is essential to conduct an orderly and organized search. Examples of specific assignments are: Effective date April 30, 2014 279  a. Checking pre-designated buildings or locations that are potential hiding places; b. Checking the residences of the escapee, the escapee’s family or friends; c. Checking bus stops and stations; and d. Dissemination of information to outside agencies. 3. The CID supervisor shall assign one unit to deliver or fax copies of the escapee’s mug shots and criminal history sheets to the following agencies; a. San Antonio Police Department b. The Department of Public Safety. c. The CID supervisor shall assure those copies of the escapee’s mug shots and criminal history sheets are "faxed" to adjoining County Sheriff’s Offices and nearby suburban police divisions as well as Constable Offices. d. The C.I.D. supervisor shall assign investigators to analyze the escapee’s belongings for evidence of the escapee’s intentions and to interrogate all inmates in the escapee’s cell. 4. A search strategy or plan should be established based on all of the available evidence such as: a. The escapee’s direction of flight; b. The escapee’s incarceration record, classification files, and visitation list; c. The number of available units for deployment; and d. Information obtained from other inmates and evidence from escapee’s room. 5. The Criminal Investigations Division has responsibility for the maintenance of a list of nearby buildings and locations that are potential hiding places for escapees. Furthermore, the Criminal Division shall have prepared for possible use a grid map of the immediate vicinity of the jail from which to assign officers to the search. The C.I.D. Deputy Chief may request the assistance of the Civil Division in supplying additional units to aid in the search. 27.04 THE PATROL DIVISION SHIFT COMMANDER The Patrol Division Shift Commander shall participate in the response to any escape by coordinating information and communications through the Communications Center Dispatchers. The Patrol Supervisor shall take the following steps: A. Receive information and updates from C.I.D. and Detention and disseminate the information to field units through the dispatcher. A designated channel will be utilized to communicate with search units. Effective date April 30, 2014 280 B. Assure that dispatch contacts the San Antonio Police Department, Department of Public Safety and other relevant agencies with information on concerning escape. C. Assure that dispatch contacts VIA metropolitan Transit and the cab companies with a description of the escapee. D. In extreme circumstances, direct already incoming patrol units to assist in the search. NOTE: As a general rule, patrol units will not be able to participate in the search of the escapee. This is due to the long distances between the jail and the patrol districts in the unincorporated areas of the county. Responding to calls for police services in the county is the primary responsibility of the patrol officer and the Sheriff’s Office cannot afford to pull patrol units out of their outlying districts to aid in a search downtown unless there are exceptional circumstances. Patrol units can however, be used to check locations within their districts where there is reason to believe that the escapee is hiding. 27.05 CENTRAL RECORDS SUPERVISOR Upon receiving information of a confirmed escape and the identity of the escapee, the Central Records supervisor shall assure that the escapee’s mug shots and criminal history sheets are reproduced in multiple copies for delivery and distribution to the various relevant units. This shall be a priority assignment as a timely response and production is essential to a successful search. 27.06 USE OF SUPPORT UNITS A. Summoning Additional Officers 1. The Sheriff may direct additional officers to assist in the search of an escapee to include: a. On duty officers of the Civil, Training, Detention and Patrol Divisions. b. On duty officers of the Court Security Division. c. Any and all-available Reserve Deputy Sheriffs. d. On duty Narcotics Investigators. e. Administrative staff. f. All on duty Criminal Investigation Division Investigators. g. Any and all off-duty officers. h. Subject to Article 2.14 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Sheriff may summon the aid of any number of citizens to assist. 2. Crime Prevention/Criminal Intelligence Unit, The Deputy Chief of the Criminal Investigations Division shall direct the Criminal Intelligence Unit to prepare a list of places to search, a grid map of the search zone, and a master plan for the actual search process. In all cases of escapes, the senior intelligence officer shall be notified as soon as possible. Effective date April 30, 2014 281 27.07 SCOPE OF SEARCH A. Zones: The nearby vicinity of the jail shall be partitioned into zones or grids in order to assign search units. B. Perimeter of search: An outer perimeter of the search area shall be established in the downtown area. The size of this perimeter will vary with each escape and will depend on several variables the most important of which are direction of flight and elapsed time. A percentage of the available search units shall be directed to immediately establish this outside perimeter and work back towards the jail. C. Saturation of search area: When possible and reasonable grounds exist to believe the escapee is in a particular area of the downtown vicinity of the jail, the Criminal Division Supervisor may redirect searching units from their previously assigned search areas to concentrate on the particular zone or grid suspected of containing the escapee. D. Search of Adult Detention Center: The Detention Center personnel shall be responsible for a careful and thorough search of all floors of the jail, all Sheriff and Detention offices the parking lots of the facility areas of the facility that are under construction, and parked vehicles. E. Length of Search: The emergency search procedures shall remain in effect until cancelled by the Sheriff. Effective date April 30, 2014 282