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Major Crimes Bureau Unit Orders / 1. ADMINISTRATIVE

1-2 Court LIaison Plan


1-1 Maintenance & Use of Bureau Orders
1-3 Orientation

MAJOR CRIMES BUREAU

DETECTIVE DIVISION

LOS ANGELES COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT

 

            Bureau Order Number:           1-2

            Subject:                                  COURT LIAISON PLAN                         

 

Effective Date:

04-02-2001

Last Date Revised:

07-31-2012

Last Date Reviewed:

09-09-2021

Next Review Date:

09-09-2022

 

PURPOSE

The purpose of this order is to outline the polices regarding “hard copy” subpoenas and court appearances by Bureau personnel.

 

SUBPOENAS

The Major Crimes Bureau’s subpoena process is as follows:

  1. All hard copy subpoenas are received by the assigned Bureau Operations Assistant or Law Enforcement Technician who is responsible for logging them into the Subpoena Log Book. (The Major Crimes Bureau also receives subpoenas via the “e-subpoena” process).
  1. Two copies of the original subpoena are given to the concerned employee.
  1. A copy of the subpoena is kept in the Log Book by date.

Personnel shall respond to a “must appear” subpoena or seek permission to be placed “on-call” through the District Attorney’s Office.  Deputies placed “on-call” shall be available to receive telephone calls and maintain a response time of one hour or less.  Overtime shall be compensated in accordance to guidelines contained in the Manual of Policy and Procedures, Section 5-07/270.05.

 

COURTROOM DEMEANOR

Courtroom demeanor, including the quality of testimony given and the professional relationships developed with court officials, the District Attorney’s Office, and others, has long been a priority of this Bureau.  Courtroom demeanor, and the manner in which testimony is presented in court, is a subject which is taught to investigators during their initial indoctrination training.  Departmentally produced video training tapes concerning courtroom testimony are used to impart this instruction.  It is recognized that courtroom demeanor discipline is important to maintaining our professional appearance and standards.

 

DRESS CODE

Personnel appearing in court are required to wear business attire or a class A uniform, per Manual of Policy and Procedures section, 3-01/050.80.

 

MONITORING/AUDITING OF PERFORMANCE

Major Crimes Bureau personnel will be trained as to the Department’s court appearance policy as outlined in Section 5-07/250.00, Criminal Subpoena and Court Appearances.

On a quarterly basis, each Bureau sergeant will monitor the courtroom testimony of at least one investigator assigned to his/her team(s).  Reference to the audit(s) will be reflected in each investigator’s annual performance evaluation.

 

OVERTIME MANAGEMENT                                                                                                        

All personnel will adhere to the Department’s goal of reducing court overtime to that which is essential to the successful prosecution of the criminal case.  Personnel shall attempt to be placed “on-call” when possible.

As a general rule, due to the flexible scheduling in place at Major Crimes Bureau, it is unlikely that any overtime will be generated as a result of court appearances.

However, if overtime should be incurred, a copy of the “court time stamped” subpoena must be attached to the overtime slip and the employee must have prior approval from his/her lieutenant.