ARREST TEAMS (HIGH RISK VEHICLE PULLOVERS)

PURPOSE

The purpose of this Directive is to familiarise officers with the correct procedures for forming an arrest team to deal with high risk subjects in vehicles.

PROCEDURES FOR ARREST TEAMS DEALING WITH VEHICLE PULLOVERS

For tactical and safety reasons, officers should follow the correct procedures when forming an arrest team to deal with a high risk vehicle pullover.

Communication

Officers shall communicate with each other to organise arrest teams, as designating roles is an important step due to the inherent danger of the situation. The responsibility of organising the arrest team shall fall down to the Incident Commander; mostly, this will be the Primary Unit on scene.

Commands

A single officer shall be designated to give commands, as multiple officers giving commands can cause confusion and escalate a situation. This should be the primary officer, who is parked directly behind the subject vehicle. During certain situations, the designated officer might not see a threat, and so other officers may begin commanding the subject; however, the designated officer should then take over with the commands again once they are aware of the new threat.

• Begin giving commands with the door open and your firearm drawn.

• Order all occupants of the subject vehicle to get their hands in the air.

• Order the driver to use one hand to slowly switch off the ignition, before putting the arm back up.

• At this point if you're still the only officer on scene, remain in cover until you have extra units on scene before continuing with the process.

• Secondary unit shall park their police vehicle to the left of the primary unit's police vehicle. (If the secondary unit is an L car, they should park parallel with the primary unit's police vehicle. If the secondary unit is an A car, they should park at a 45 degree angle towards the suspect vehicle.)

• Tertiary unit (if necessary and on scene) shall park behind the primary unit. Their job is to direct traffic and, if necessary, to help speed up custody procedures.

• The designated commands officer will carry on, by ordering the driver out of the vehicle, keeping their hands in the air, and to face away.

• Order them to do a slow 360 degree spin which allows you to examine their waistband.

• Order them to walk backwards towards the police vehicles.

• Order them to stop, right before, or between the bumpers of the police vehicles to avoid crossfire. The secondary unit shall continue focussing on the suspect vehicle, while the primary unit takes the driver into custody. Alternatively, if viable, primary unit may cuff the suspect and then hand them off to the tertiary unit, who will perform the search of the person and secure them in their patrol vehicle.

• Any other remaining occupants shall be ordered out of the vehicle in the same manner. If the occupants are on the right side of the vehicle, after they have gotten out of the vehicle, order them backwards and then around the rear of the suspect vehicle, before ordering them back to the bumpers of the police vehicles.

• Once all visible occupants are out of the vehicle, an arrest team will form up on the right side of the primary unit's police vehicle. The arrest team will move up to secure the suspect vehicle. Be mindful of the fact that at least one officer shall always maintain lethal cover of the suspect vehicle.

• The arrest team will move upto the right side of the suspect vehicle.

• If a weapon is visible within the vehicle, alert other officers to the location of the firearm.

• If another occupant is hidden in the vehicle, retreat to your police vehicles and begin giving commands again. If they do not comply, the Incident Commander should use their judgement and available resources to consider declaring it a barricaded suspect situation which would allow for a SWAT response.

Roles

The roles of an arrest team consist of:

• Designated Cover Officer (DCO)

  • • Takes point on the arrest team

    • Armed with either a Shotgun or a Rifle, when the situation allows. If the situation doesn't allow any officer to have a Shotgun or a Rifle, then the DCO shall use their service firearm

• Lethal Officer(s)

  • • Will take the second, and third spots on an arrest team

    • Armed with their service firearm, or a Shotgun or Rifle.

• Less-Lethal Officer

  • • Armed with a Beanbag Shotgun, or a Taser

    • Might be redundant if the situation is too dangerous.

• Contact Officer ("Hands on")

  • • Holsters their service firearm, and cuffs the suspect

    • Is responsible for searching the suspect after getting them into custody. Be sure to follow manual Section 204 CUSTODY PROCEDURES.

Code Four

Immediately upon getting the suspect(s) into custody, an officer shall broadcast Code Four, with their location, type of call, and the reason being "suspect(s) in custody."