Duty to Interven Policy

Policy & Procedures                 No. 1.51
                                  Subject:
                Duty to Intervene Policy
                                  Issuing Authority:                                       Effective Date:   Review Date:
                     Chief of Police                       9/01/2022
                                                                                 References:

 Review
 Revision
 Reissued
 Dates:

CALEA STANDARDS: UOF-9,10; 26.0.4

This policy is to be used in conjunction with the Department’s Use of Force Policy #1.01

   A. An officer present and observing another officer, regardless of tenure or rank, using
       physical force, including deadly force, beyond that which is necessary or objectively
       reasonable based on the totality of the circumstances, shall intervene to prevent the use
       of unreasonable force unless intervening would result in imminent harm to the officer or
       another identifiable individual. 26.0.4 (1,2)

       “Officer-involved injury or death”, is defined as any event during which an officer fails
        to intervene, as required in the paragraph (A) above, to prevent the use of excessive or
       prohibited force by another officer who actually or proximately cases injury or death of
       another”.  26.0.4 (7)

   B. Failure to intervene may subject the officer to disciplinary action, civil liability and /or
       criminal prosecution. 26.0.4 (6)

   C. An officer may have their certification revoked or be ordered to be retrained after a
       hearing by the POST for failure to intervene. 26.0.4 (8)

   D. An officer who observes another officer, regardless of tenure or rank, using physical
        force, including deadly force, beyond that which is necessary or objectively reasonable
       based on the totality of the circumstances shall, using the chain of command, report the
       incident directly to the OIC or to an appropriate supervisor as soon as reasonably
       possible but not later than the end of the officer’s shift. 26.0.4 (3)

   E. The officer shall prepare a written statement describing the incident consistent with
      uniform protocols. The officer’s written statement shall be included in the supervisor’s
        report. 26.0.4 (3)

             Canton Police Department’s Duty to Intervene Policy              Page 1

F. Any harassment, intimidation or retaliation against the officer who made such report
    regarding the witnessed excessive force shall be a violation of this department policy and
    shall upon a sustained internal administrative investigation shall be subjected to the
   imposition departmental discipline up to and including termination. UOF-11

G. This policy prohibits retaliation against any employee who observes and reports an
    instance of using physical force, including deadly force, beyond that which is necessary
    or objectively reasonable based on the totality of the circumstances to include the
    discharge of the employee, any change to their official rank, grade or compensation, deny
   a promotion or take any other adverse action against an officer or employee or threaten to
    take any such action.
                      a.  For providing information to the agency or testifying in any agency or
                         at any court proceeding resulting. 26.0.4 (9)
                    b.  For providing information to the POST or testifying in any POST
                    proceeding resulting. 26.0.4 (10)

Training

To reinforce adherence to this policy, two training requirements are necessary: 26.0.4 (4,5)

                      a.  Pre-service: refers to initial training/entry-level training upon hire (for
                    example, during FTO training or other on-the-job training) as well as

                    b.  Yearly In-service training (annual refresher training) on the Duty to
                     Intervene will be provided to all officers.

          Canton Police Department’s Duty to Intervene Policy              Page 2