I. AUTHORITY

This policy is issued under authority granted to the Chief Probation Officer.

II. PURPOSE

The purpose of this policy is to establish guidelines to recognize, and a procedure to respond to an emergency situation that may arise in the Probation Department’s Casa Loma facility.

III. APPLICABILITY

This policy procedure applies to all Probation staff.

IV. BACKGROUND

On occasion, individuals seeking information from the front desk or collections windows staff become agitated to the extent of posing a potential safety risk for those around them.  In addition, officers may at times make arrests in and around the front entrance area.  

Further, the need may arise to quickly evacuate the building during times of natural events (fire, earthquake, flooding), as well as a non-natural event (bomb threat, armed intruder, etc). Thus, this policy is provided to effectively and safely respond to emergency situations in and around the Casa Loma building that may arise at any time with little or no notice. 

V. GENERAL POLICY

1. The safety of all Probation staff is the priority of this Department. If any non-sworn staff is presented with a situation where he/she believes his/her personal safety is at risk, it is the Department’s expectation that they remove themselves immediately from the situation to a safe place and not return until instructed to do so by the Incident Commander.
2.  Any sworn staff placed in a situation where he/she believes his/her personal safety is at risk may take appropriate action based upon his/her level of training, experience, ability, and applicable policies.
3.  Should an emergency situation arise within the building, non-sworn staff will respond using the procedures outlined in this policy.
4. The Probation Department recognizes two levels of emergencies and two levels of evacuation.
   1. Level I Emergency:  A Level I Emergency is defined as any subject or subjects presenting an immediate threat of injury or death to someone in the building.  This includes persons making verbal threats who are observed or believed to be carrying a weapon, or behaving in such a manner to lead to the reasonable belief that the subject is a threat to themselves or others.
      1.  Level I Emergency Response for Front Desk Area
         1.  Front desk or collections window staff shall request assistance by activating the emergency buttons adjacent to each respective work station.
         2.  A pre-recorded message will be broadcast over the loudspeakers, directing sworn officers to respond to the front desk area, and non-sworn personnel to remain at or return to their workstations.
         3. Sworn officers will proceed to the front area and stage by the equipment room door.
         4.  Non-sworn personnel will remain at their workstations, or return to their workstations.  Non-sworn front desk personnel will leave the area immediately.
         5.  In the event there is no sworn supervisory or management present, the most senior/experienced Deputy Probation Officer shall assume the role of Incident Commander. 
         6.  The Incident Commander will assess the situation based upon the                 information available to him/her at that time, and formulate an appropriate response, including the need to contact "911," to obtain special equipment necessary (i.e. AED) any officer safety issues present, or the number of officers required to safely resolve the situation.
         7. Once the scene of the incident is clear, the Incident Commander shall announce to the staff via the public address system that the building is safe for normal operations.
   2.  Level II Emergency: A Level II Emergency is defined as anything less than a Level I Emergency, which could include an agitated client in the lobby, or any situation where staff feel uncomfortable with a client or believe the situation might escalate.
      1. Level II Emergency Response for the Front Desk Area
         1. The Front Desk staff member shall notify the Officer of the Day or a Supervisor and ask them to respond.
         2. The Officer of the Day or a Supervisor will assess the situation, call for assistance if needed, and take appropriate action.
         3. The Officer of the Day will advise staff when it is safe to return to normal operations 
5. Advisement of Potentially Dangerous Persons:  In the event that management personnel believe that a reasonable possibility exists that a person(s) may attempt to enter the building for the purpose of harming Probation staff and/or visitors, staff shall be notified by:
6.  
   1. Posting a hard copy notice describing the nature of the threat, a photograph (if available) and the physical description of the person(s). 
   2. Sending an email message to all Probation staff advising them of the nature of the threat, a photograph (if available) and a physical description of the person(s).
7. Evacuation
   1. The decision to evacuate the building may be made by: emergency services personnel; the Chief Probation Officer, Assistant Chief Probation Officer,; a representative of the County Administrative Office; or by the senior Chief Deputy Probation Officer or Supervisor present in a Probation Department facility during the time of the emergency.
   2. Unless the level of evacuation is made at the direction of those parties noted in Section F.1., the highest-ranking officer present shall assume the role of Incident Commander and be responsible for announcing either a Level I or a Level II evacuation.
   3.  An evacuation may be ordered for, but not limited to the following: fire, flood, earthquake, suspected or confirmed presence of an explosive device; chemical exposure.  The Probation Department recognizes two levels of evacuations as follows.

Level I Evacuation

1. Level I evacuation shall be called when the possibility of death or serious bodily injury is imminent, and the only safe way to mitigate this response is for all individuals to immediately exit the building.  In a Level I Evacuation, the following will apply:
   1. The Incident Commander or his/her designee announces a Level I evacuation over the building public address system.
   2. All personnel and visitors will immediately exit the building and proceed to the evacuation staging area (the Bishop Street parking lot adjacent to the San Luis Obispo County Behavioral Health Campus).
   3. Upon arrival at the staging area, the most senior staff member present shall commence taking a count of all staff present.
   4. In the absence of emergency services personnel, the Incident Commander and/or his/her designee shall make a room to room search of the building to ensure that all staff and visitors have safely exited.
   5. Upon confirming that all staff and visitors have exited the facility, the Incident Commander shall proceed to the parking area adjacent to the staging area.
   6.  All staff shall remain at the staging area until given direction by the emergency services personnel, or until the area becomes too unsafe to remain.

Level II Evacuation

1. A Level II Evacuation shall be called when there is a presumed or actual threat to the safety of the staff, but time and circumstances allow for a more orderly evacuation than those in a Level I evacuation.  In a Level II evacuation, the following will apply: 
2. The Incident Commander or his/her designee will announce over the public address system that the building is being evacuated.  Staff and visitors shall be directed to shut down their computers, secure safety equipment, cash and records of importance, and quickly exit the building.
3. All personnel and visitors will immediately exit the building and proceed to the evacuation staging area (the Bishop Street parking lot adjacent to the San Luis Obispo County Behavioral Health Campus).
4. Time and circumstances permitting, the Incident Commander will be directed staff to move County vehicles to a safe location at his/her discretion.
5. A staff member will be designated to maintain a roster of Probation Department personnel once they have arrived at the staging area.
6. Once the building is vacated, the Incident Commander will conduct a building to building search to ensure that all personnel and visitors have exited (including the collections module and classroom).
7. The building will then be secured, and the Incident Commander shall remain on site until Probation Department personnel are allowed to return, unless directed to leave the area by emergency services personnel, or until the area becomes too dangerous to safely remain. 
8. The Chief Probation Officer shall assign a Chief Deputy Probation Officer the task of conducting quarterly Level I and II evacuation drills, as well as ensuring that an Emergency Document Kit ("crash box") including pertinent emergency documents is maintained and up to date.

G. High Risk Arrests

1. In the event an officer believes that the arrest of a potentially violent and/or resistive subject in a Probation Department facility is imminent, he/she shall:
   1. Notify a Supervisor or the Officer of the Day;
   2. Develop a plan by which the arrest may be made safely and with the least amount of risk to staff and visitors;
   3. Determine the need for the assistance of the police;
   4. Ensure that sufficient sworn staff are present to safely execute the arrest;
   5. Determine the safest location to affect the arrest;
   6.  If necessary; advise non-involved staff to remain in their offices and/or cordon off the area of the building where the arrest is to be made.

VI. EXCLUSIVITY

This policy will remain in effect until superseded or suspended in writing by the Chief Probation Officer and can be reviewed as needed.