Desk personnel and drivers of vehicles equipped with an authorized red light and siren may initiate Code 3 responses. All persons authorizing, supervising or participating in Code 3 responses must be able to justify their decisions and actions within the guidelines of this section.
Desk personnel authorizing a Code 3 response are also responsible for immediate notification to any other agencies adjacent to Sheriff’s Stations/Unit which is also dispatching emergency equipment that this Department is making a Code 3 response. Notification is required regardless of whether assistance from other agencies are requested. When desk personnel authorize or become aware of a pursuit, need for emergency assistance or any other type of Code 3 response, they shall immediately notify their Watch Commander.
Field Deputies initiating or participating in pursuits shall immediately notify SCC and shall be guided by subsequent subsections. Immediate notifications to other agencies may be accomplished through SCC by desk personnel.
Field Deputies initiating Code 3 responses in non-pursuit emergencies must notify SCC and receive an acknowledgment of the notification before beginning the response. In making this notification, personnel need not wait for approval from their desk; however, personnel shall abide by orders subsequently received regarding the response.