6 - General Rules 

6a) Jail and Punishment | Handling of Suspect

SUSPECT REQUESTING A SUPERVISOR

Members of the public have the right to speak a supervisor. When a supervisor is requested via the 911 service they are expected to respond to the call as soon as they are available.

When a suspect requests you to call a supervisor, this request should generally be made by utilizing the quick incident menu.

Detainees also have the right to speak with a supervisor if they request it. If a supervisor is requested by a suspect being arrested then they may be brought to the Police Department to wait for one but they must not receive any criminal charges until the supervisor has spoken to them.

The right to a supervisor can only be declined in the following circumstances: 

• The supervisor was previously involved in the suspects case and has confirmed the suspect is to be charged.

• The arresting officer is already a Supervisor, i.e a Sergeant does not have to request a Lieutenant to talk to his suspect if the suspect requests it.

• There are no supervisors on duty.

• There are no supervisors available. 

ENACTING PUNISHMENTS | ISSUING CITATIONS

Officers may not attempt to attempt to circumvent systems in order to add up laws under any circumstances to increase jail time beyond the prescribed maximum penalty.

For minor breakage of laws (e.g. minor traffic offences) tickets and sentences should remain lower. Generally, the extent of cooperation offered by the detainee should be considered when setting a jail sentence or issuing a fine. When issuing tickets to vehicles, the charges should only be for traffic-related offences and should not exceed $5,000. 

When an officer wishes to go over the maximum punishment for an offender, exceptions may be authorised where justifiable by an officer ranked Lt. or higher utilising the power under 3.10 of the Penal Code. 

REGARDING THE PUNISHMENT OF OTHER OFFICERS

Officers may not publicly punish, pursue, restrain, or otherwise damage the reputation of other officers unless that officer poses a clear and present danger to themselves or others. This including pulling over other officers. If it is believed that the officer has committed misconduct, then an Internal Affairs complaint should be created at https://plpd.online/new-complaint

SUSPECTS HANDING THEMSELVES IN

Warranted individuals may voluntarily surrender to the Police at any time. If they choose to do so, their jail time and any associated fine must be reduced by at least 50%.

For offences that carry a sentence of 7 years or more, the sentence must be reduced by at least 3 years, and the associated fine must be reduced by no less than 50%. 

If the reduction results in a fractional duration, the sentence must be rounded up to the nearest whole year.

6b) Conduct

CONDUCT ON PLPD.ONLINE, TEAMSPEAK & DISCORD

Any conduct within the Police Department channels in Teamspeak and Discord is to remain kind and preferably professional. Use of any powers in Teamspeak and Discord which have been granted by the PLPD to an officer are to be used only for official purposes and abuse of these privileges will result in disciplinary action.

CONDUCT IN RADIO & RADIO USAGE

Radio communication is to remain courteous and professional. Officers are also expected not to talk over each other and not to take up excessive time in use of the radio. Only emergencies and time sensitive matters should be sent over voice radio, this includes but is not limited to: Code 3 paramedics, reporting a car chase, requesting backup, reporting a traffic stop, panics or shots fired.

6c) Dispatch

REGARDING THE AUTHORITY OF DISPATCHERS

On-duty dispatchers have complete authority and control over any asset inside the PLPD. Officers ranked Lieutenant and above may overrule a dispatcher’s commands provided that the reasoning is justifiable.

6d) Peaceful Policies

IGNORANT BEHAVIOUR IN THE APPLICATION OF LAWS TO PRESERVE THE PEACE

Laws are expected to be lessened in severity or even ignored at times if it is absolutely necessary to preserving the peace or preserving life. Often threatening people with more charges and longer sentences in an already tense situation can aggravate the situations and cause an undesirable outcome.

IDENTIFICATION OF OFFICERS | ANNOUNCING OFFICER PRESENCE

Officers are always expected to identify themselves as law enforcement officers for the city of Paralake during an ongoing situation and especially when entering a building and/or private property (such as individual apartments). Otherwise the officers could be mistaken as hostile persons.

6e) Performance of Duties

NEGLIGENT PERFORMANCE OF DUTIES | DUTY OF CARE

An officer performing duties, even within the limits of the law, may be found negligent in the performance of their duties if they obviously do not act to the best of their ability or if their behaviour unreasonably endangers the lives of citizens, other officers, or themselves and the risks obviously and heavily outweigh the benefits.

WARRANT STRUCTURE

For a warrant to be reason enough to arrest someone and be classed as "valid", you need to provide an overview of the situation including evidence and weapons used (if any). Warrants only saying "Tried to run the taxi driver over" will not be classed as "valid" or be enough to arrest someone for, as it does not give an overview of the situation nor does it tell us what kind of evidence that was present at the time.

A good example of an arrest warrant is: "Shot and killed the mayor outside city hall with a M9 Beretta after the mayor refused to lower the sale taxes. Several witnesses including police officers witnessed the situation. DNA found on the scene."

The bare minimum example of what an arrest warrant must contain is: "Murdered a Civilian with a Walther PPK at Small Suburbs House 1"

A good example of a search warrant is: “Drug plants appear to be visible from the window of Slums Apartment 1. Residents refusing to cooperate with law enforcement.”

PANIC BUTTON

The Panic Button is only to be pressed when there is an urgent concern for personal safety of you or a colleague, which requires immediate assistance.

You must not ‘test’ your Panic Button, even with notice, and it is your responsibility to reduce the likelihood of accidental press (e.g. by moving it to a bind you’re unlikely to hit by accident); accidentally pressing the panic button may lead to disciplinary action.

In the interest of safety, all panic button presses must be responded to regardless of anyone on scene asking for it to be disregarded. It should only be disregarded after an independent officer, preferably of higher rank, can validate that no response is required.