# Woodside County Sheriff's Office Handbook
Last revised November 22nd, 2022
Approved by County Sheriff frostbleed

## SEC. 1: Introduction

This handbook, maintained by the County Sheriff, outlines the general policy of the Woodside County Sheriff's Office. It is not the only policybook or set of guidelines that may be applicable to deputies. Unit commanders may administer policybooks specific to their area of command. In addition, there may be individual policies defined outside this handbook that are in force. However, where a specific guideline or policy conflicts with this handbook, this handbook shall take precedence.

From time to time, this handbook may be amended, reflecting a change in policy. When this occurs, a bulletin to all members of the Woodside County Sheriff's Policy will be announced.

The contents of this handbook are public information.

## SEC. 2: General Orders

The General Orders are a set of broad rules applicable to all members of the Woodside County Sheriff's Office.

**1. Conduct yourself with professionalism and dignity whenever in uniform or in service.**

**2. Respect those in positions of authority appointed over you.**

**3. Maintain or exceed the minimum level of activity prescribed upon you, if applicable.**

**4. Co-operate and be truthful if a criminal or departmental investigation commences against you.**

**5. Do not participate in political activity or campaigning when in uniform or in service.**

**6. Do not participate in any duties where your participation would represent a conflict of interest.**

## SEC. 3: Equipment, Department Resources, and Dress

During department-wide inspections, all members shall wear the Class A uniform with Campaign Hat and Duty Belt. No sunglasses shall be worn.

During regular duties, including frontline patrol, members shall wear the Class B or C uniforms with duty belt. Members shall also wear either no hats (with reasonable hair color) or the department-issued Deputy Cap (only for Class B or C). The wearing of the tactical vest is optional. The Class A uniform shall not be worn unless authorized by a member of rank Sergeant or superior.

No personal accessories may be worn with any class of uniform at any time, with the exception of sunglasses.

The spike strips shall only be dispensed and utilized by members of rank Corporal or superior. The riot shield shall only be dispensed and utilized with the authorization of a member of rank Sergeant or superior.

Use of department-issued equipment off-duty is prohibited. All issued equipment remains the property of the Woodside County Sheriff's Office, and must be returned at the end of each shift.

Department equipment, including vehicles, uniforms, firearms, use of force equipment, and emergency signalling equipment, shall be used strictly for necessary law enforcement purposes.

Vehicle radios may not be operated when emergency signalling equipment (e.g. vehicle emergency lighting systems) are activated. Audio played from vehicle radios must not be offensive or unreasonably loud.

Department resources, including information technology (IT) resources such as Discord communication servers, may not be used for political purposes or for advertising non-work related business.

## SEC. 4: Ranks

The following section outlines the ranks of the Woodside County Sheriff's Office, from lowest seniority to highest seniority.

**Cadet:** Cadets are newly hired and untrained members of the Woodside County Sheriff's Office, and are under the area of responsibility of the Recruitment and Training Division. Cadets are not police and must not purport to exercise police powers. Upon completion of the training curriculum defined by the Captain of Recruitment and Training, Cadets take the Oath of Honor and deputized. Immediately following deputization, new deputies are assigned to the Routine Operations Branch. Cadets who do not satisfactorily complete the training curriculum within 14 days will not be deputized and removed from the department.

**Deputy:** Newly deputized members of the department are subject to a 1-week probationary period, during which they are ineligible for assignment outside of the Routine Operations Branch and may be terminated for poor performance or failure to uphold expectations unilaterally by the Assistant Sheriff of the Routine Operations Branch. Deputies of this rank are the backbone of the Woodside County Sheriff's Office.

**Deputy First Class:** Deputies First Class are senior deputies with no supervisory authority. The procedures and requirements for promotion to Deputy First Class are specific to each branch and division.

**Corporal:** Corporals are senior deputies with supervisory authority in their area of responsibility over lower-ranking deputies. The procedures and requirements for promotion to Corporal are specific to each branch and division. Promotions to this rank must be approved by the Captain of the area of responsibility of the prospective Corporal.

**Sergeant:** Sergeants are senior deputies with supervisory authority in their area of responsibility over lower-ranking deputies. The procedures and requirements for promotion to Sergeant are specific to each branch and division. Promotions to this rank must be approved by the Assistant Sheriff of the area of responsibility of the prospective Sergeant.

**Lieutenant:** Lieutenants are senior deputies with significant supervisory authority in their area of responsibility over lower-ranking deputies. Most Lieutenants are first in command of a division. The procedures and requirements for promotion to Lieutenant are specific to each bureau, but deputies are ineligible for promotion to the rank of Lieutenant until a minimum of 2 months of unbroken service immediately prior to the proposed promotion date has been attained, unless this requirement is waived by the Sheriff. Promotions to this rank must be approved by the Undersheriff.

**Captain:** Captains are senior deputies with significant supervisory authority in their area of responsibility over lower-ranking deputies. Most Captains are Commanders (or first-in-command) of a bureau. The procedures and requirements for promotion to Captain are specific to each bureau, but deputies are ineligible for promotion to the rank of Captain until a minimum of 2 months of unbroken service immediately prior to the proposed promotion date has been attained, unless this requirement is waived by the Sheriff. Promotions to this rank must be approved by the Undersheriff.

**Assistant Sheriff:** Assistant Sheriffs are senior deputies responsible for the day-to-day operation of the branch for which they are responsible. Assistant Sheriffs are appointed by the Sheriff on the advice of the Undersheriff.

**Undersheriff:** The Undersheriff is the second-in-command of the Woodside County Sheriff's Office, responsible for overseeing day-to-day operation of the department. The Undersheriff also serves as the chief advisor to the Sheriff and ensures that internal standards are maintained consistently throughout the department. The Undersheriff is appointed by the Sheriff.

**Sheriff:** The Sheriff is the first-in-command of the Woodside County Sheriff's Office, responsible for external affairs relating to the department, maintaining and writing department-wide policy, and conducting department-wide inspections to evaluate the effectiveness of leadership and existing policies.

## SEC. 5: Department Organization

The Woodside County Sheriff's Office comprises three bureaus, each headed by an a Captain.

### Routine Operations Bureau

This branch consists of the frontline uniformed deputies of the Woodside County Sheriff's Office, and is the largest branch of the department by number of members belonging to this area of responsibility. Deputies belonging to this branch are responsible for general frontline patrol and policing duties in Woodside County. There are no unique divisions in this branch.

### Administration Bureau

This bureau consists of deputies responsible for communications, public affairs, maintenance of professional and ethical standards, and training and recruitment.

**Internal Affairs Division:** The Internal Affairs Division is headed by a Lieutenant. It investigates misconduct, complaints from the public on the conduct of members, corruption, and transgressions of law and internal policy by deputies, and recommends appropriate remedial and punitive action.

**Public Relations Division:** The Public Relations Division is headed by a Sergeant. It prepares press releases, takes promotional and documentary photographs, creates department promotional and informational media, and plans and hosts public engagement events and initiatives.

**Training and Recruitment Division:** The Training and Recruitment Division is headed by a lieutenant. It is responsible for all aspects relating to recruitment of new members, including review of applications and conducting interviews, as well as the training of new cadets.

### Specialized Operations Bureau

This bureau consists of deputies responsible for criminal specialized investigation, tactical response, and protection.

**Criminal Investigations Division:** The Criminal Investigations Division consists of the detectives of the Woodside County Sheriff's Office and is headed by a Lieutenant. It investigates all categories of state crime, conducts interrogations and interviews, and refers cases for prosecution. It also conducts background checks on prospective members of the department.

**Special Response Unit:** The Special Response Unit is a division of operators responsible for the handling of high-risk situations requiring specialized police tools and tactical training, and is headed by a Lieutenant. Some duties include but not limited to the service of warrants, handling of hostage crisis scenarios, neutralization of large-scale gang attacks, and apprehension of barricaded suspects.

**Protections Division:** The Court Protections Division consists of bailiffs responsible for all aspects of court security, and coordinates the security of both the interior and exterior of courthouses when court is in session. It is headed by a Sergeant.

## SEC. 6: Recruitment

The specifics of recruitment policy are defined by the Captain of the Training and Recruitment. All stages are handled by the Training and Recruitment Division. Broadly, the stages of recruitment from application to deputization are the following:

**1. Application:** The Woodside County Sheriff's Office recruits new members on a rolling basis, meaning that applications remain open indefinitely until prohibited by budgetary requirements or special circumstances. This means that prospective cadets may submit applications at any time.

**2. Interview:** A live interview is conducted in-game at the department headquarters. Applicants will be given the opportunity to address concerns with their application and to ask any questions they have regarding next steps and the department at this stage.

**3. Background Investigation:** The Training and Recruitment Division refers the file to the Criminal Investigations Division for a background check. A second interview with the applicant may be conducted at the discretion of the Criminal Investigations Division.

**4. Review of File:** The investigative file is provided to the Training and Recruitment Division from the Criminal Investigations Division, where a decision on the applicant is made using the investigative file, interview notes, and application.

**5. Offer:** The candidate is presented with an offer of employment.

~~**6. Training:** The new cadet undergoes the training curriculum defined by the Captain of Training and Recruitment, and completes it within two weeks.~~
*Note that this has been suspended until the universal BPOST curriculum for departments has been released. As of August 11th, 2022, this has not yet occured.*

**7. Deputization:** The cadet takes the Oath of Honor, and is appointed a deputy of the Woodside County Sheriff's Office.

At any point during or between stages 1 to 5, candidates may be deemed non-competitive and removed from the applicant pool, during which time they will be notified by a recruiter. Candidates removed from the applicant pool are ineligible to reapply until 21 days has elapsed since they were informed of their removal from the applicant pool. Omission of serious adverse information from the application or interview may result in the revocation of offer if one results, and/or termination from the department.

## SEC. 7: Inspections and Training Standards

Bi-weekly inspections are hosted by the Sheriff in order to assess overall operational readiness of the department and evaluate the effectiveness of leadership. All inspections are hosted on weekends, with the exact weekend day and time varying between inspections to accomodate the different schedules of deputies.

The specifics of the training curriculum are defined by the Captain of Training and Recruitment, but must train and educate new applicants on the following topics at a minimum: Sections 2-5, 7-8, and 10 of this handbook; the policies and activity standards of the Routine Operations Branch; and definitions of actual, potential, and perceived conflict of interest.

### Barklen Peace Officer Oath

Successful completion of the Deputy Sheriff training curriculum is followed by the administration of the Barklen Peace Officer Oath by the Sheriff, Undersheriff, or designee thereof:

I, (name) do solemnly swear (or affirm)
that I will support and defend the Constitution of the State of Barklen as interpreted by my immediate superiors,
that I will execute my duties as a peace officer when I feel like it,
sometimes faithfully,
that I will deceive the Barklen people when strategically necessary,
and that I pledge allegiance to gote78 and the capybara.
So help me, Gote.

## SEC. 8: Disciplinary Action

Generally, disciplinary action is the purview of the Internal Affairs Division. Cases of misconduct, violation of internal policy, transgressions of the law, and public complaints must be investigated by the Internal Affairs Division. Following this, the Internal Affairs Division makes an appropriate order on disciplinary action to close the case, if deemed necessary. The exceptions to this are terminations as emergency preventative action in cases of extremely grave or life-threatening misconduct, or violations of internal policy that do not concern the law and are not grave.

The heads of each bureau are empowered to unilaterally suspend members under their area of responsibility who are subordinate to them for up to 48 hours. Suspensions are periods of time, definite or indefinite, in which a member is ordered to refrain from entering service or participating in law enforcement or departmental administrative duties. A given member can only be disciplined in this fashion once per two-week period. The head of the division must refer the case to the Internal Affairs Division if they wish for the member to be suspended for more than 48 hours, or if they wish for the member to be suspended another time within the two-week period. This power ensures that heads of divisions are able to efficiently handle minor instances of misconduct without significant bureaucratic overhead.

Where an instance of misconduct concerns a potential criminal act, the Internal Affairs Division must work in conjunction with the Criminal Investigations Division and alongside prosecutors if applicable.

The Internal Affairs Division is empowered to investigate and order disciplinary action against any member of the Woodside County Sheriff's Office up to and including member holding the rank of Assistant Sheriff. Decisions of the Internal Affairs Division will be supported by the Sheriff so long as they are made free of conflict of interest, are informed by objectively reasonable interpretations of available evidence, and are not manifestly unjust with respect to outcomes on similar cases in the past.

Members cannot be punished by both the head of their division and by order of the Internal Affairs Division for the same incident, unless the punishment was manifestly inappropriate with respect to the gravity of the circumstances. This is a finding that the Internal Affairs Division is empowered to make.

Appeals of disciplinary action are heard by the Assistant Sheriff of the Administration Branch by a process they define.

## SEC. 9: Interbureau Transfers

A member may transfer to a different bureau within the Woodside County Sheriff's Office with the consent of the Captains of both bureaus concerned. If the member is of rank Sergeant or senior, consent of the Undersheriff is required.

Before an interbureau transfer occurs, access to all originating branch resources no longer required by the member must be revoked. Revocation of such access is the responsibility of the member's chain of command.

## SEC. 10: Termination of Service

The service of a member may be terminated for reasons such as resignation, unsatisfactory performance, or violation of law or internal policies. Prior to departure, they must transfer control and ownership all departmental resources under their control, which may include but are not limited to Discord servers, Trello boards, policy documents, or databases to a member within their chain of command. Appropriate action must be taken to ensure that such department resources are returned. When a member departs, access to all departmental resources must be revoked expeditiously. The responsibility for ensuring removal of such access falls on the chain of command for the member.

Prior to a member's resignation, their chain of command should be notified at least 72 hours in advance so that appropriate arrangements for transfer of departmental resources can be made.

## SEC. 11: Awards and Commendations

The Sheriff may, on the advice of the Undersheriff, designate awards including ribbons and other devices that may be worn on the uniform. These may be issued for acts of bravery, length of service, exceptional performance, or other reasons. Awards may or may not be accompanied by written commendations, which may be issued by Assistant Sheriffs, the Undersheriff, or the Sheriff. Written commendations are published publically by the Public Relations and Internal Affairs Division and may also be issued alone without an award.

There are currently no designated awards.

## SEC. 12: Jail Regulations

Correctional Officers are the primary authority responsible for enforcing these Jail Regulations.

Verbal commands for jail administration, e.g. "CLOSE ALL CELLS", shall be used only by Correctional Officers. Deputies may use jail administration commands only with permission of the Sergeant of Corrections, Undersheriff, or Sheriff.

**ONE - Order and Discipline.** Correctional Officers shall maintain order and discipline within the jail at all times by use of verbal commands, force, and law enforcement assistance as appropriate and necessary in order to enforce these Regulations.

**TWO - Solitary Confinement.** Non-compliant inmates shall be held in solitary confinement cells for a period of up to 2 days as a punitive measure.

**THREE - Recreation.** Inmates shall be brought to the yard for a period of recreation not less than 5 minutes in length once per day. Inmates subject to solitary confinement shall not have a period of recreation.

**FOUR - Feeding.** All inmates shall be fed at least once per day. Feeding shall occur in the cafeteria. The period of feeding shall be not less than 5 minutes. Inmates subject to solitary confinement shall conduct feeding alone.

**FIVE - Daytime Mobility.** Inmates not subject to solitary confinement shall be free to leave their cells during daylight hours, but shall not enter the cafeteria except during feeding. Lights shall be turned on during this period. Inmates subject to solitary confinement shall not leave their cells except during feeding.

**SIX - Nighttime Mobility.** Inmates shall be confined to their cells at night. Lights shall be turned off during this period.

**SEVEN - Lockdown.** A lockdown shall occur if an inmate acquires a weapon, an unauthorized intruder enters the jail beyond the lobby, or if an inmate cannot be located. Law enforcement shall be notified in a lockdown. During a lockdown, all inmates shall be present in their cells and lights shall be kept on. The lockdown shall be lifted when the situation resulting in the lockdown is rectified and a count of all inmates has occurred. All inmates shall be searched during a lockdown.

**EIGHT - Nightly Count.** A count of all inmates shall occur nightly.

**NINE - Visitation.** Inmates shall be entitled to up to one period of visitation per day from a member of the public. Inmates subject to solitary confinement may not receive visitors. Periods of visitation shall be not more than 5 minutes. No physical contact is permitted between visitors and inmates. Visitors shall be searched for weapons and contraband prior to admittance beyond the jail lobby. Inmates shall be searched following a visit.

**TEN - Arrest of Visitors.** Visitors found to be in possession of illegal contraband and visitors who are witnessed committing a felony shall be detained by power of citizen’s arrest and held in a vacant cell. Law enforcement shall be notified to attend and arrest the visitor without delay.

**ELEVEN - Supervised Admittance.** All individuals admitted to the jail, including members of the public for visitation and law enforcement officers, shall be supervised by Correctional Officers whenever on jail premises.

**TWELVE - Weapons on Premises.** No firearms, blades, or knives may be brought into the jail beyond the lobby, unless the possessor is a law enforcement officer present in the jail for a legitimate law enforcement purpose.

## SEC. 13: Appendix

**Woodside County Sheriff's Office Discord server link:** https://discord.gg/qh2kypQZdU

**Sheriff's Discord tag:** Frost#2674

**Undersheriff's Discord tag:** malik#0002