Las Cruces Police Department GENERAL ORDERS FIELD OPERATIONS VOLUME 2 GO-231 PHYSICAL ARRESTS (MOST CRITICAL) Revised 6/4/2012 231 PHYSICAL ARRESTS PURPOSE This General Order provides commissioned employees with guidelines for making arrests. POLICY Commissioned employees of the Las Cruces Police Department (LCPD) shall follow all lawful legal procedures required in arresting, booking, and filing charges against misdemeanor and felony suspects. APPLICABILITY This General Order applies to commissioned employees of the Las Cruces Police Department. This General Order supersedes all previous versions. REFERENCES • CALEA 1.2.5 • NMML ADM.02.04 • NMSA 1978 3-13-2, Police officers • NMSA 1978 31-1-6, Citation in lieu of arrest without warrant • General Order 230, Search of Prisoners • General Order 233, Prisoner Transport DEFINITIONS Arrest - To take or hold a person suspected criminal with legal authority. Arrest Warrant – A written order issued by a judge, magistrate, or other proper authority that commands a law enforcement officer to place a person under arrest. Child – A person who is less than eighteen (18) years of age. Citizen Contact – Any activity involving communication between a citizen and a police officer. Consensual Contact – An encounter between a police officer and a citizen that may be initiated by either party, but one where the citizen is free to leave at any time. 1 Las Cruces Police Department GENERAL ORDERS FIELD OPERATIONS VOLUME 2 GO-231 PHYSICAL ARRESTS (MOST CRITICAL) Revised 6/4/2012 Exigent Circumstances – Articulable conditions, facts, or circumstances that call for immediate aid or action. Police Officer(s) – See NMSA 1978 Revised 3-13-2, Police officers. Probable Cause -Facts and circumstances within the officer's knowledge sufficient enough to warrant a prudent person to believe a suspect committed, is committing or is about to commit a crime. Reasonable Suspicion – Specific and articulable facts for suspecting a person of criminal activity; the degree of suspicion of criminal activity that justifies investigative detention but not an arrest. 231.01 VOLUNTARY CONTACTS A. An officer may initiate a voluntary contact at any time, for any reason, and in any place, the officer has a right to be. A voluntary contact is not a seizure, stop or arrest, but rather a voluntary interaction between an officer and another person. B. Persons contacted shall not be detained against their will or searched. An officer may not use force or coercion in initiating a voluntary contact or in attempting to obtain cooperation once the voluntary contact is made. Officers shall act in a restrained and courteous manner. Persons who do not respond to the officer’s greeting or approach must be allowed to continue on their way. Restraining the person in any manner converts the voluntary contact to an investigative detention, which can be made only upon reasonable suspicion. 231.02 INVESTIGATIVE DETENTION A. Investigative detention is the temporary detention of a person based upon reasonable suspicion. (It is critical that the officer be able to fully articulate the facts and circumstances that substantiate their reasonable suspicion). B. Officers shall not prolong investigative detention beyond the amount of time necessary to accomplish the purpose of the detention. Officers should be aware that many factors can influence a court to view detention as an arrest, such as but not limited to: 1. Unnecessarily prolonged detention; the longer a person remains detained, the more likely the detention may be judged as an arrest. 2. Current case law. 2 Las Cruces Police Department GENERAL ORDERS FIELD OPERATIONS VOLUME 2 GO-231 PHYSICAL ARRESTS (MOST CRITICAL) Revised 6/4/2012 3. Removing or moving an individual from the original contact location. 4. An unnecessary display of firearms. 5. The use of handcuffs, other restraints, or restrictions to freedom. C. Officers who reasonably believe that a person under investigative detention may pose a threat to their safety or those around them shall conduct a “frisk” or “pat-down” of the detainee’s clothing for weapons. D. If probable cause exists that the detainee has committed a criminal offense for which he/she could be immediately charged, the detainee may be placed under arrest. 231.03 AUTHORITY TO ARREST A. Officers may arrest any person under the following conditions: 1. When an officer has knowledge of or holds a warrant commanding the arrest of, the named person. 2. When any arrestable offense has been or is being committed by a person in the officer’s presence. 3. When an officer is in a public place and has probable cause to believe that an offense was committed by an individual, and there exist certain exigent circumstances. The New Mexico Supreme Court recognizes four exigent circumstances allowing an officer to make a warrantless arrest of any individual in a public place: a. An emergency situation requiring swift action to prevent imminent danger to life. b. An emergency situation requiring swift action to prevent serious damage to property. c. To forestall the imminent escape of a suspect. d. To forestall the imminent destruction of evidence. 3 Las Cruces Police Department GENERAL ORDERS FIELD OPERATIONS VOLUME 2 GO-231 PHYSICAL ARRESTS (MOST CRITICAL) Revised 6/4/2012 231.04 ARREST WARRANTS A. A warrant is a writ or precept issued by a Magistrate Judge, Municipal Judge, District Judge or other competent authority, addressed to a law enforcement officer, requiring them to arrest the person therein named, and bring them before the appropriate court to answer or be examined, touching some offense which they are charged with having committed. B. Warrant Requirements: 1. Officers must be reasonably certain that the person to be arrested is, in fact, the person named in the warrant. Officers may detain a person to establish the validity of the warrant and the identity of the suspect. When in doubt, the officer should consult with a supervisor for assistance. Further investigation as to the identity of the suspect may include, but is not limited to: a. Contacting the case agent if it is a local warrant. b. Contacting the issuing agency. c. Obtaining a fingerprint classification for the suspect if available. d. Obtaining a photograph from the case file if available. 2. The warrant must include a description of the wanted person sufficient to identify the fugitive. The description should include name, sex, race, height, weight, hair color, and date of birth and/or social security number. 3. The warrant must include the issuing court and judge, jurisdiction and state, originating agency, charge, date of warrant, warrant number and bond. 4. If the warrant is not issued in the State of New Mexico, the warrant must indicate that the issuing jurisdiction will extradite upon arrest before the warrant can be served (See G.O. 221 Fugitive From Justice). 5. All warrants shall be confirmed by the source agency prior to service or arrest. 6. NCIC/NMCIC hits indicating that a person has a warrant for his/her arrest shall be confirmed with the originating agency. The confirmation includes ensuring that the warrant is still valid and that the originating agency will extradite the suspect. It is the arresting officer’s responsibility to verify the NCIC hit (See G.O. 221 4 Las Cruces Police Department GENERAL ORDERS FIELD OPERATIONS VOLUME 2 GO-231 PHYSICAL ARRESTS (MOST CRITICAL) Revised 6/4/2012 Fugitive From Justice). Subjects who are NCIC “Soundex” hits shall not be arrested without multiple points of identification which confirm the subject’s identity. If there are still lingering questions of identification the officer shall contact a supervisor. The arresting officer shall advise the NCIC operator when the suspect is in custody. C. Execution of Arrest Warrants: 1. Searching private premises for a wanted person may be conducted only with consent to search by a person with authority to grant consent, or with a valid search warrant, except in situations concerning hot pursuit of the wanted person or exigent circumstances. a. If officers are denied consent to search a structure and they have probable cause to believe a wanted person is inside (e.g., neighbors say they saw the wanted person inside the structure), the scene should be secured and a search warrant obtained before proceeding with the search for a wanted person. b. An officer having personal knowledge that a wanted subject is currently within a structure owned or leased by the wanted subject (e.g., view of the wanted person in the wanted person's own residence) has sufficient grounds to search even though consent has not been given nor a search warrant obtained. 1) Personal knowledge applies only to the wanted person's structure; it does not apply to a structure belonging to another person. 2. Officers attempting to serve a warrant shall verify the information on the warrant prior to any attempt to serve the warrant. 231.05 ARRESTS WITHOUT A WARRANT A. When an officer observes a violation of law committed by another person, or when probable cause and/or exigent circumstances exists to believe that a felony crime has been committed outside of the officer’s presence, the officer may make an arrest. B. When an officer is legally inside a private place and observes a violation of law committed by another person, or when probable cause and/or exigent circumstances exists to believe that a felony crime has been committed outside of the officer’s presence, the officer may make an arrest. Examples of lawful presence in a private structure: 5 Las Cruces Police Department GENERAL ORDERS FIELD OPERATIONS VOLUME 2 GO-231 PHYSICAL ARRESTS (MOST CRITICAL) Revised 6/4/2012 1. Pursuant to a valid search warrant. 2. Pursuant to an arrest warrant for a different offense.