SOP/SOG Use of Force Guidelines

The Auxiliary is now going through the process of organizing the Standard Operating Guidelines and Standard Operating Procedures which have appeared in various documents, operations orders, and trainings until this point. You will find them in the Volunteer Handbook under Standard Operating Guidelines and Procedures. What is the difference between a Guideline and a Procedure? You will find the definition on that page.

One of the first items to appear is our overall Use of Force Guidelines, as approved by the Sheriff. As this is a public website, others may find these guidelines interesting, especially as Missouri makes no legal distinction between an Auxiliary volunteer and any other citizen requested or required to assist a law enforcement officer. The notes about the legal basis for Citizen's Arrest, for instance, and why we strongly recommend that it not be done even when it is legal, apply equally to any Missouri citizen who happens to be present when a crime is committed. Other organizations, including Volunteers In Police Service programs, are also free to use our polices as a starting point for their own.

Should you be involved in a Use of Force Incident, on or off duty, in or out of uniform, procedures for reporting it are written on the inside rear cover of the field log booklet you received at the summer deployment exercise. Contact information for the Sheriff's Office appears on the front of the booklet. This booklet should always be in your Go-Kit, purse, or somewhere else it may be easily referenced. You may request additional copies of this booklet from the Quartermaster. The text will also appear in the Volunteer Handbook shortly.

The reader may also notice that the guidelines on Partisan Political Activity by members of the Auxiliary has also been moved into this section of the Volunteer Handbook.