UNC Police: General Order 02-08R6 - General Order System

Title

UNC Police: General Order 02-08R6 - General Order System

Document Information

Purpose

To establish a comprehensive system for preparing, reviewing, approving, and disseminating General Orders (G.O.) and Standard Operating Procedures (S.O.P.) of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Police Department (UNC-CH Police Department). These are intended to provide guidance for their conduct of daily activities, the routine business of the department and a framework for emergency responses.

Policy

It is not possible to anticipate every possible circumstance. G.O.’s are established under this system and must be general in nature. Where specific circumstances cannot be addressed, the G.O.’s provided must be applied. Employees are expected to accomplish this using sound judgment and discretion.

The G.O.’s and S.O.P.’s of the UNC-CH Police Department, whether in the electronic form or written form, is the primary sources of guidance under which all employees of the department operate daily. The Chief of Police is the sole approving authority for all General Orders. No additions, deletions, or changes to any G.O.’s or S.O.P.’s are authorized without express written approval of the Chief of Police. The procedures, policies, directives, and regulations contained in the current G.O.’s supersede and can cancel older G.O.’s, Memorandums, or S.O.P.’s.

Units Affected

UNC-CH Police Department Sworn and Non-Sworn Personnel

References/Forms

• Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) Standards
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Policy Framework
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Procedure for Policy Management

Definitions and Descriptions

CALEA: Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc., public safety credentialing association

General Order: Permanent written directives concerned with policy, procedure, and rules and regulations. These are the formal guidance for the agency and are found online in PowerDMS and the UNC-CH electronic policy repository system.

Issuing Unit: Refers to UNC-CH Police Department

Memorandum: An informal written document used to clarify, inform or inquire. A memorandum may or may not convey instructions or parameters of duty.

Unit Policy: A written directive that is a broad statement of department principles. Policy statements may be characterized by such words as “may” or “should” and usually do not establish fixed rules or set procedures for conduct of a particular activity but rather provide a framework for development of procedures and rules and regulations.

PowerDMS: Cloud based software that is a central repository for drafting, revising, disseminating and tracking organizational policies across their lifecycle.

Rules and Regulations: A specific set of guidelines to which all employees must adhere. These include, but are not limited to, any published requirements of statutorily designated regulatory organizations that affect the department, any and all federal and state laws, county and municipal ordinances, or policies and procedures established generally by the North Carolina Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission to regulate or guide any aspect of the performance and/or conduct of the department and its employees.

Unit Standard Operating Procedure (S.O.P.): A written directive that is a guideline for carrying out department activities. A procedure may be made mandatory in tone using “shall” rather than “should”, or “must” rather than “may”. Procedures sometimes allow some latitude and discretion in carrying out an activity.

University Policy: Has application throughout the University, informs someone outside the issuing unit of rights and responsibilities, or regulates the actions of the unit as it interacts with other units on campus

Procedures

I. Organization of the General Orders

1. The G.O.’s contains 15 functionally grouped chapters and a table of contents. These chapters are as follows:
   1. Chapter 1: Department Authority & Relationships;
   2. Chapter 2: Administration & Organization;
   3. Chapter 3: Personnel Structure & Process;
   4. Chapter 4: Patrol & Traffic Operations;
   5. Chapter 5: Prisoners & Juvenile Operations;
   6. Chapter 6: Operations Support;
   7. Chapter 7: Training;
   8. Chapter 8: Criminal Investigations & Intelligence;
   9. Chapter 9: Evidence & Property;
   10. Chapter 10: Crime Prevention & Crime Analysis;
   11. Chapter 11: Communications;
   12. Chapter 12: Records;
   13. Chapter 13: Accreditation;
   14. Chapter 14: Information & Technology;
   15. Chapter 15: Campus Law Enforcement.

II. Accessing General Orders

G.O.’s are available to all department personnel online through PowerDMS and the UNC-CH electronic policy repository system.

III. Document Review

G.O.’s and S.O.P.’s must be reviewed annually after the original date of issuance to determine if any cancellations, updates, or revisions are necessary.

IV. General Order and Standard Operating Procedure Updates, Changes and Revisions, Indexing, and Maintenance

1. Changes and updates will be issued periodically in response to an identified need. Upon issue of a change or update the following will occur:
   1. The proposed revision will be submitted to accreditation manager for review to ensure that it is aligns with accreditation standard(s) and to also ensure the revisions do not contradict other existing agency G.O.’s /S.O.P.’s, University Policies, or applicable law(s).
      
      The G.O. or S.O.P. is forwarded to the appropriate division commanders for review and then to the Chief of Police if no changes are warranted by division commanders. If changes are noted, the draft will be returned to the accreditation manager for corrections before approval by the Chief of Police.
   2. The specific changes/updates will be included in a revised G.O., which will be validated by the signature of the Chief of Police. The number of the affected G.O.’s will also be changed to reflect the revision.
      
      For example, if G.O. 3-16 needed changes/updates, the number would be changed to 3-16R1 to reflect the first revision to G.O. 3-16. The next revision would be 3-16R2 and so on.
   3. The change(s)/update(s) will be made in PowerDMS, notification is sent to the appropriate department personnel via e-mail explaining what change occurred in the G.O. or the S.O.P.
   4. Each employee will be required to read any new revised G.O.(s). or S.O.P.(s) placed in PowerDMS within 30 days of the G.O.(s) or S.O.P.(s) being uploaded. Each employee is provided their own user login and password to access PowerDMS.
      
      Any employee not reading the policies in the prescribed time limit will have a message sent to the Chief of Police for appropriate action. New employees will have a period of 60 days from the time they have G.O. instruction during their department orientation.
   5. The department’s accreditation manager is responsible for the maintaining and updating G.O.’s and S.O.P.’s in the PowerDMS System.
2. New G.O.’s and S.O.P.’s will be published as deemed necessary by the Chief of Police. Approval of new G.O’s or S.O.P.’s will be as follows:
   1. The division commanders will work with the accreditation manager to propose new G.O.’s that could have an impact on their respective divisions. All new G.O.’s or S.O.P. must meet accreditation standards and must not contradict other existing agency G.O.’s/S.O.P.’s or applicable law(s).
   2. The accreditation manager will forward the draft to the Chief of Police for review. The Chief of Police will grant approval for posting or for additional revisions. Upon approval, the accreditation manager will upload the G.O.(s) or S.O.P.(s) into PowerDMS.
   3. Only the Chief of Police may approve the issuance of a G.O. General Orders are published only by the Office of the Chief of Police. The final draft will be issued in accordance with this G. O.(s) or S.O.P.(s) and signed by the Chief of Police.
   4. G.O.’s or S.O.P.’s may be archived in PowerDMS, only by a Memorandum from the Chief of Police, directing it to be. Archiving will be done any time a G.O or S.O.P. is found to conflict state or federal law and/or no longer satisfy a CALEA standard and no longer necessary to the mission of the department.
      1. When it is determined a G.O. or S.O.P. needs to be purged, the request for archiving will be forwarded to the accreditation manager.
      2. The purged G.O. or S.O.P. will be archived in PowerDMS by the accreditation manager and removed from the active agency G.O.’s or S.O.P.’s.
3. Any individual employed by the UNC-CH Police Department may recommend a revision or change to the G.O.’s or S.O.P.’s. The recommendations must be made in writing in a Memorandum, through the chain of command to the appropriate division commander. The recommendation will be forwarded to the accreditation manager for review. All changes and revisions will be made in accordance with Section IV of this G.O.
4. G.O.’s will be written in the prescribed format:
   1. PURPOSE (statement)
   2. POLICY (statement)
   3. UNITS AFFECTED
   4. REFERENCES/FORMS
   5. DEFINITIONS (if necessary)
   6. PROCEDURE
5. Indexing must be accomplished by noting the major titles within each G.O. with the proper policy number for quick reference.

V. Memorandums

1. Memorandums may be issued by any member of the department. However, Memorandums must be forwarded through the chain of command prior to being put out to the department. Memorandums must not contradict already established policies and procedures. Any Memorandums dealing with requests for service must have specific time limitations and/or an expiration date.

VI. Maintaining Policies in the UNC-CH Policy Repository

1. The accreditation manager works with a liaison to maintain all G.O.’s in the Universities electronic policy repository system per UNC-CH Procedure for Policy Management.

VII. Responsibility for Maintenance and Knowledge of Contents

1. The immediate supervisor of each employee of the UNC-CH Police Department is responsible for insuring that employees read, understand, and follow all G.O.’s and S.O.P.’s issued. Employees with questions concerning a G.O./S.O.P., are required to direct their questions to their immediate supervisor. New employees are required to be familiar with G.O.’s and S.O.P.’s as outlined in Section IV of this G.O.
2. Familiarity with all G.O.’s and S.O.P.’s is a responsibility of all employees. Failure to be familiar with G.O.’s or S.O.P.’s is not an excuse for failing to comply with them. Failure to comply with applicable G.O.’s or S.O.P.’s will result in disciplinary action.
3. In order to maintain the integrity of the G.O.’s/S.O.P.’s and to ensure that employees receive adequate training along with the distribution of directives and that both distribution and training are adequately documented, an accreditation manager is necessary.
   1. The accreditation manager of the UNC-CH Police Department is responsible for maintaining updated G.O.’s and S.O.P.’s and that the department is meeting CALEA standards.
   2. The accreditation manager is responsible for insuring distribution of new or updated G. O.’s and S.O.P.’s in accordance with Section IV letter A. of this G.O.
   3. The accreditation manager is responsible for reporting the completion of G. O.’s/S.O.P.’s and distributing through the chain of command to the Chief of Police and to the administration division commander.