Aurora Police Department Unintentional Discharges Policy PDF

05.09 REPORTING AND INVESTIGATING UNINTENTIONAL DISCHARGES Approved By: Art Acevedo, Interim Chief of Police Effective: Aug-18-2023 Revised: Aug-18-2023 Associated Policy: DM 05.01, 05.02, 05.06, Unintentional Discharge Matrix, Unintentional Less-lethal Discharge Matrix References: C.R.S. § 18-1-707...

05.09 REPORTING AND INVESTIGATING UNINTENTIONAL DISCHARGES Approved By: Art Acevedo, Interim Chief of Police Effective: Aug-18-2023 Revised: Aug-18-2023 Associated Policy: DM 05.01, 05.02, 05.06, Unintentional Discharge Matrix, Unintentional Less-lethal Discharge Matrix References: C.R.S. § 18-1-707, 18-8-802, 24-31-905 Review Authority: Professional Standards and Training Division Chief and APD Legal Advisor(s) 5.9.01 PURPOSE The purpose of this directive is to provide sworn members of the Aurora Police Department (APD) with clear and direct guidelines to follow when reporting, reviewing, and adjudicating unintentional discharges. 5.9.02 SCOPE This directive applies to all sworn and non-sworn members of APD who are authorized to carry firearms and/or less-lethal devices in the course of their duties. This policy applies to all sworn and non-sworn members while on duty, working secondary employment, and off duty. Only weapons used or authorized for the performance of official duties are subject to these guidelines. 5.9.03 DEFINITIONS Definitions from the following directives apply to this directive: - DM 05.01 - Use of Force - DM 05.02 - Use of Force Model - DM 05.03 - Less-Lethal Devices, Weapons, and Techniques - DM 05.04 - Authorized Firearms, Weapons, and Ammunition - DM 05.05 - Reporting Use of Force - DM 05.06 - Investigating Use of Force - DM 05.07 - Investigating Use of Lethal Force - DM 05.08 - Use of Force Adjudication Unintentional Discharge: Discharge of a firearm or less-lethal device that is reported to be unintentional by the discharging sworn member at the time of the incident. Off Duty: A sworn member who is not working a scheduled shift, secondary employment, or otherwise acting in an official capacity. Secondary Employment: Employment requiring the use or potential use of police authority as defined in DM 08.12 - Secondary and Additional Employment. Page 1 of 4 DM 05.09 - Unintentional Discharges Revised: Aug-18-2023 Administrative Activity: An incident during which manipulation of a firearm or less-lethal device results in an unintentional discharge, such as loading, unloading, function checking, and spark testing. These activities are commonly done to prepare for or finish official duties or when preparing a firearm or less-lethal device for inspection. 5.9.04 POLICY The policy of the Aurora Police Department is that unintentional discharges of a firearm or less-lethal device shall be reported, thoroughly investigated, reviewed, adjudicated, and appropriate notifications made, consistent with the level of intentional uses of the same firearm or less-lethal device. See the Unintentional Discharge Matrix and Unintentional Less-lethal Discharge Matrix, which are included in this policy. The Chief of Police or designee may deviate from this policy as they deem appropriate (e.g., MAT, MCHU, etc.). 5.9.05 REPORTING UNINTENTIONAL DISCHARGE INCIDENTS Unintentional discharges of a firearm or less-lethal device require personal notification to an on-duty supervisor by the involved sworn member or another sworn member present as soon as practical, as stated in DM 05.07 - Investigating Uses of Lethal Force or DM 05.05 - Reporting Uses of Force. If the member is off duty, they will call the watch commander. That supervisor will report the incident to the Duty Lieutenant. 5.9.06 INVESTIGATING UNINTENTIONAL DISCHARGE INCIDENTS Unintentional discharges of a less-lethal device that do not strike or affect another person will be entered as complaints in the administrative management system. Tier Two use of force reports will be entered into the administrative management system if the unintentional discharge of the device impacts another person. Supervisors will conduct an initial inquiry into all reported unintentional discharges and forward the results to the IAB in an administrative management system report. When the unintentional discharge involves a firearm, the on-scene supervisor will notify the Duty Lieutenant, who will begin required notifications according to the Unintentional Discharge Matrix. The supervisor shall document the event in a use-of-force report if a bullet or fragment struck a person. If the incident was a training accident and no one was struck or injured, the investigating supervisor will enter a complaint in the administrative management system. Incidents that occur within the City of Aurora will result in a response by APD members from FIU, IAB, MCHU, and CSI, if appropriate, according to the Unintentional Discharge Matrix. The Duty Lieutenant will notify the appropriate jurisdiction if the member is outside the city. That agency will determine its response to the incident. FIU and IAB will also be notified to respond if appropriate. A use of force shall be separately reported and documented according to the corresponding Tier requirements when the member involved in the unintentional discharge also uses force against a person during the same incident. 5.9.07 ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS IN UNINTENTIONAL DISCHARGE INCIDENTS Any sworn or non-sworn member whose unintentional discharge of a firearm or less-lethal device results in the death, serious bodily injury, or hospitalization of a person, or their actions otherwise may require prosecutorial review, will be relieved of front-line duty (i.e., any assignment involving direct contact with the Page 2 of 4 DM 05.09 - Unintentional Discharges Revised: Aug-18-2023 public), pending criminal and administrative investigation. The Chief of Police or designee may place the member on administrative leave according to DM 08.02 - Leave and Scheduling Procedures section 8.2.3 (f). The involved sworn member will be sent home for the remainder of their shift. The investigating supervisor will coordinate with the Duty Lieutenant and/or Executive to make an interim determination of the involved member’s duty status. If the event occurred over the weekend, the member might be assigned to work a nonenforcement assignment pending an official duty-status decision. When no injury occurs because of a member’s unintentional discharge, the Duty Lieutenant will notify the Duty Executive. The Duty Executive or IAB commanding officer, acting as the designee for the Chief of Police, will determine whether the member involved should continue with regular duty, be removed from front-line duty, or be placed on administrative leave. The decision of the Duty Executive and/or the IAB commanding officer will be reported through Personnel Orders to the Chief of Police or designee as soon as practical. The Chief of Police or designee will determine the appropriate action from that point. Administrative leave will end at the order of the Chief of Police or designee. Any unintentional discharge of a firearm requires an inspection by the department’s armorer to ensure the firearm is safe to put back into service consistent with inspections following a lethal use of force. The following actions/processes take place during the review of the incident: - - If the incident is being reviewed administratively: - A member of the Force Investigations Unit (FIU) will take possession of the weapon used by the involved member. - That FIU Investigator will take firearms to the range for inspection. CEW’s will be taken to the APD Academy and/or Quartermaster’s office for inspection, with the possibility of the CEW being sent back to the manufacturer for further testing if required. - Following a successful inspection, the weapon will be transferred back to the FIU Investigator, who will return it to the member. - If a firearm is not functioning properly, Range staff will issue a replacement firearm to the member. If a CEW is not functioning properly, Quartermaster will issue a replacement CEW to the member. If the incident is being reviewed criminally: - CSI will take possession of the weapon used and place it into the APD Property and Evidence Unit as evidence. - If criminal charges are filed, the weapon will be held as evidence according to appropriate evidence protocols until the conclusion of the case. - On receipt of a declination letter from the District Attorney, the assigned FIU investigator will collect the weapon from the APD Property and Evidence Unit and take it to the range to be inspected. - Upon completion of the inspection, the FIU investigator will return the weapon to the property section. - The commanding officer of IAB will notify the sworn member when the weapon is available to be collected. Page 3 of 4 DM 05.09 - Unintentional Discharges 5.9.08 Revised: Aug-18-2023 UNINTENTIONAL DISCHARGE OF A FIREARM Unintentional firearm discharges will be reported and investigated according to the Unintentional Discharge Matrix. These situations include, but are not limited to: 5.9.09 - Training at the firing range when a bullet strikes no person. - On duty while conducting a law enforcement activity when no person is hit, and no person is placed at risk of bodily injury or death. - While working secondary employment. - Incidents that occur off duty, on public or private property. - Any discharge of a firearm that a sworn member mistook to be a less lethal device. - Any training accident involving a firearm when a bullet or fragment strikes another person. - Any training accident involving a firearm or less-lethal device when a person is hospitalized or dies. UNINTENTIONAL DISCHARGE OF A LESS-LETHAL WEAPON Unintentional discharges of a less-lethal weapon will be reported and investigated consistent with the Unintentional Less-Lethal Discharge Matrix. These situations include, but are not limited to: 5.9.10 - During training or administrative activity. - On duty while conducting a law enforcement activity. - While working secondary employment. - Incidents that occur off duty on public or private property. ADJUDICATING UNINTENTIONAL DISCHARGES The Chief of Police or designee will ultimately adjudicate an unintentional discharge. Page 4 of 4