Bexar County Sheriff's Office Policy Manual PDF

BEXAR COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE POLICY MANUAL Original Date Effective Date Chapter Number June 25, 2022 June 25, 2022 Five Appendix H Subject Office County...

BEXAR COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE POLICY MANUAL Original Date Effective Date Chapter Number June 25, 2022 June 25, 2022 Five Appendix H Subject Office County Motor Vehicle Operation Sheriff’s Administration References Enclosures Bexar County Comprehensive Vehicle Policy None Distribution Supersedes Review Pages All Sheriff’s Employees New Appendix December 1, 2023 4 Approved by: Javier Salazar, Bexar County Sheriff 5H.01 POLICY The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office operates a fleet of motor vehicles for official operational use. All of these vehicles are property of the County and duly recorded as such on an inventory. Each deputy who uses one of these motor vehicles becomes obligated and responsible for its proper care, maintenance, and service condition. Deputies will operate county vehicles in a careful and prudent manner to include obeying all laws of the various municipalities, the State of Texas, and any appropriate policy or procedure of the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) including any rule of the Bexar County Comprehensive Vehicle Insurance Policy. 5H.02 PURPOSE This policy provides deputies with guidelines on the proper usage and care of Bexar County motor vehicles. 5H.03 DEFINITIONS CLASS A AUTHORIZATION - This authorization allows for the county owned vehicle to be used for 24 hour on-call purposes only. Under this authorization from the Sheriff or Chief Deputy, deputies assigned a take- home vehicle while on stand-by and/or subject to immediate call-out may use the vehicle as their primary means of transportation and may transport immediate family members in their take-home vehicle only when subject to immediate call-out. CLASS B AUTHORIZATION - This authorization allows for the county owned vehicle to be used for to/from home and work only. Permitted occupants are authorized sworn and non-sworn employees of the Sheriff’s Office, persons who are required to be conveyed as a result of the regular performance of duty, or persons specifically authorized by supervising authority. 5H.04 USE OF COUNTY MOTOR VEHICLES A. County owned motor vehicles are supplied to deputies for “official county business” use only. They are not substitutes for a deputy’s personally owned motor vehicle and should never be considered as such unless otherwise stated in this Chapter. B. Deputies shall abide by class A and class B authorizations and shall not allow, at any time, any unauthorized person to ride in county owned motor vehicles. Permitted occupants are authorized 1  sworn and non-sworn employees of the Sheriff’s Office, persons who are required to be conveyed as a result of the regular performance of duty, or persons specifically authorized by supervising authority or elsewhere in this Chapter. C. Take-home vehicle authorizations will expire on December 31st of each year. It is the responsibility of those individual employees assigned a take-home vehicle to resubmit a take-home vehicle request form in a timely manner each calendar year. D. Deputies shall not allow, at any time, any unauthorized person to operate a county vehicle or to have in their possession the keys to such motor vehicle. E. Only those deputies who have a Texas Peace Officer license and who have completed a BCSO Emergency Vehicle Operations course are allowed to operate county vehicles equipped with lights and sirens as an authorized emergency vehicle utilizing said equipment as defined by state law, except for those authorized to do so by the Sheriff or Chief Deputy. F. It is mandatory that all occupants of a county vehicle use a seatbelt at all times. G. Smoking is prohibited in all county owned vehicles. 5H.05 TAKE-HOME VEHICLES A. Prior to being assigned a take-home vehicle, deputies will complete and submit BCSO Take-Home Vehicle Request Form 350-473 through their chain-of-command to the Sheriff or Chief Deputy. B. Deputies assigned a take-home vehicle, unless exempted by the Sheriff or Chief Deputy, shall: 1. Return the vehicle to their assigned units if they are off-duty for a period exceeding five (5) days; 2. Return the vehicle to their supervisor if they are on light duty status. 3. Reside within a 44 mile radius as the crow flies of his/her place of duty assignment. 4. Legally park the vehicle at the deputy’s place of residence. 5. Remove all portable county issued equipment and secure the vehicle when the vehicle is parked or stored overnight. C. Upon receiving written authorization from the Sheriff or Chief Deputy, deputies assigned a take-home vehicle while on stand-by and/or subject to immediate call-out may use the vehicle as their primary means of transportation only if afforded a class A take-home vehicle permit. 1. Deputies shall be prepared to respond directly to a crime scene or other specified location when called. 2. Deputies may transport immediate family members in their take-home vehicle only when subject to immediate call-out and when using the vehicle as their primary means of transportation. 2  3. If the deputy is called to a crime scene or other work-related location while immediate family members are in the take-home vehicle, the family members should be dropped off at the nearest safe location. Deputies should be aware the safety of their immediate family is the sole responsibility of the deputy and as such, family members are not to be taken to a crime scene or other work-related location. 4. Deputies subject to immediate call-out and assigned a take-home vehicle will adhere to all policies and procedures concerning reporting for duty. 5. Deputies must obtain authorization from the Sheriff or Chief Deputy before traveling outside of Bexar County with a take-home vehicle. D. Upon receiving written authorization from the Sheriff or Chief Deputy, deputies assigned a take-home vehicle with a class B take-home vehicle permit, may use the vehicle for to/from home and work only. E. The Sheriff or Chief Deputy may revoke the assignment of a take-home vehicle to any deputy if they are not insurable as per state minimum requirements. Also, any violations of this policy may result in the loss of a take-home vehicle assignment. F. Deputies requiring a temporary replacement for a take-home vehicle will use a vehicle from their assigned units. Deputies assigned to units, which have no vehicles assigned, will make arrangements through the deputy’s immediate supervisor. 5H.06 USE OF TAKE-HOME VEHICLES FOR OFF-DUTY EMPLOYMENT Upon receiving written authorization, BCSO take-home vehicles, with the express consent of the Sheriff or Chief Deputy, and when in the best interest of public safety or at county parks/facilities, may be used for off-duty employment. 5H.07 DAMAGE OR CRASHES INVOLVING COUNTY MOTOR VEHICLES A. Incidents involving damage to, or crashes involving county vehicles, shall be investigated by a Traffic Safety Unit deputy (if no Traffic Safety Unit deputy is available then by an on-duty patrol deputy), supported by Crime Scene Unit deputies and others as necessary. Each incident shall be thoroughly investigated in order to fix responsibility and to ensure that the county’s interests are properly protected. B. Deputies shall promptly notify their supervisor and the radio dispatcher, if appropriate, of any crash or damage to a county vehicle operated by them or in their charge, whether it is a result of a collision with another county or privately owned motor vehicle or damage caused by some means other than a motor vehicle collision. C. Deputies involved in an incident concerning a county vehicle must make a written or electronic report upon the proper forms of such crash or damage within 24 hours of the occurrence, however all incidences involving a deputy and a member of the public will require immediate reporting and investigation by the deputy’s supervisor and BCSO Traffic Safety Unit deputy. 3 D. The deputy’s supervisor shall ensure that Bexar County Fleet Maintenance is notified in order that necessary arrangements can be made for repair of the vehicle and a temporary replacement vehicle provided if necessary. 5H.08 ASSIGNMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES All county vehicles are assigned. Deputies shall not use a county vehicle not specifically assigned to them without first obtaining permission from a supervisor in the section, unit or division in which it is officially assigned. 5H.09 LIABILITY OF DEPUTIES REGARDING MOTOR VEHICLES Upon recommendation of the Crash Review Board (CRB) that a deputy’s negligence contributed to a crash or damage to a county vehicle, such deputy may be held liable for reimbursement to the County Auditor for an amount specified by the Chief Deputy. This reimbursement can be paid by lump sum or payroll deductions, as agreed upon by the deputy and the administrator. 5H.10 ISSUED GASOLINE CARDS A. Each county vehicle is issued its own gas card. Each gas card is issued to a specific motor vehicle and is to be used only for the county vehicle to which it was issued. The gas card is keyed to a specific motor vehicle’s odometer mileage and consequently, it is not to be used for any other county vehicle nor is it to be passed on to other county employees. The gas card will stay with the particular motor vehicle to which it is assigned. B. The Sheriff’s Office has major brand gasoline credit cards which are available to deputies who are required to make official business trips away from Bexar County in county vehicles. These cards may be used with any county vehicle and accountability for these cards and any charges will be strictly monitored. In no situation will any of the types of gasoline credit devices listed above be used for any privately owned vehicle. 5H.11 PERSONALLY OWNED VEHICLES A. Those deputies who hold a Texas Peace Officer license and are sworn as such by the Sheriff may utilize emergency lights on their personally owned vehicles for authorized off duty work purposes, however deputies will not alter or create personal vehicles that are designed to strongly imply to the public that said vehicles are official BCSO county owned vehicles. B. No deputy, regardless of status, will utilize personally owned vehicles to make traffic or other citizen stops either on or off duty. 5H.12 NON-SWORN BCSO EMPLOYEES All non-sworn civilian employees of the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office who are authorized to operate county owned motor vehicles as part of their official job duties will abide by the rules laid out in this Chapter and elsewhere in BCSO policy, procedure, or other SOP as applicable. 4