24-148 Department General Order 5.04 "Arrests by Private Persons" Update Packet #114

The purpose of this directive is to announce the revision of Department General Order 5 .04 Arrests by Private Persons, adopted by the Police Commission on September 4, 2024. Members will be held accountable for this policy starting Saturday, October 19, 2024.

The major updates in this policy include, but are not limited to the following:

5.04.04, Procedures [responsibilities of the Responding Member], revisions are as follows:

• Section 3 language was replaced to read as follows: "Duty to investigate, Decision to Cite, or Cite and Release. When receiving an arrest from a private person, the decision to cite or book the suspect shall be made upon further investigation ofSFPD and not the arresting person's preference. SFPD has a duty to investigate allegations raised by a private person. When a person is arrested for a misdemeanor or an infraction and it is later determined that they are eligible for a citation release, an officer shall promptly cite and release the person at any time prior to the SheriffDepartment assuming custody."
• Section 4 language is amended to read as follows: "If an arrest is made, obtain the signature of the arresting private person on the Private Person's Arrest form (SFPD Form 80) or document the person's verbal affirmative response to make a private person's arrest on BWC. Note in the incident report that a Private Persons Arrest form had been documented via BWC or SFPD Form 80."
• Section 5 language was replaced and reads as follows: "PRIVATE PERSON ARRESTS. An incident report is not required if the officer accepts all the allegations as true and no crime has been committed, or the allegations are frivolous or unfounded without the need for further investigation-for example, if a person alleges that an alien abducted them or that a neighbor implanted a chip in their body to control their thoughts."
• Members are no longer required to book a copy of the Private Person's Arrest form into evidence. The form shall now be scanned and uploaded with the incident report.
• Members are no longer required to issue a Certificate ofRelease whenever a person is not free to leave, even if no arrest occurs.

Lieutenants, sergeants, and training coordinators should read, review, and discuss this policy during line-ups.

Members are expected to have a working knowledge of all directives applicable to their respective assignment and comply with their provisions, per DGO 3.0 l, Department Written Directives. Members shall obey all written orders, policies, and procedures of the Department, per DGO 2.01, General Rules of Conduct.

Department General Order update packet #114 is attached to this Notice and is available to members on the PowerDMS site.

/s/
WILLIAM SCOTT 
Chief of Police

Per DN 23-152, all sworn & non-sworn members shall electronically acknowledge this Department document in PowerDMS within (30) thirty calendar days of issuance. Members whose duties are relevant to this document shall be held responsible for compliance. Any questions regarding this policy should be sent to [email protected] who will provide additional information.

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