General Orders
General Orders are the Police Department’s policies governing most aspects of our day-to-day operations and actions. Our General Orders are the culmination of laws, legal decisions, best practices, and community input. They serve as a daily guide for our employees and are one of the many ways of ensuring we maintain a professional workforce and act in a way that is consistent with training and Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) accreditation standards.
Please visit this page often to see additional General Orders, which will be posted here as each policy undergoes a comprehensive review and is approved by the Command Staff of the Police Department and the Chief of Police.
- GO 01-01 Code of Conduct
- GO 01-02 Constitutional Rights
- GO 01-05 Use of Force
- GO 01-06 Search and Seizure
- GO 01-07 Police Weapons
- GO 01-08 OC Spray Canister and Fogger
- GO 01-10 Procedures for Consular Notification of Foreign Nationals
- GO 01-12 Duties to the Commonwealth Attorney's Office
- GO 01-18 Use of Force Review Board (UFRB)
- GO 01-19 Accident Review Board (ARB)
- GO 01-20 Body Worn Camera Program
- GO 01-21 Conducted Energy Weapons
- GO 02-01 Department Structure, Chain of Command, Command Authority and Responsibility
- GO 02-06 Watch Commanders and Notification
- GO 03-03 Uniforms and Equipment
- GO 03-07 AED Procedures
- GO 03-10 Take Home Vehicles
- GO 03-12 Handling Property and Evidence
- GO 03-13 Social Media
- GO 04-03 Substance Abuse Policy
- GO 04-06 Outside Employment
- GO 05-09 Awards & Citations
- GO 05-12 Field Training Officer Program
- GO 06-02 Incident-Based Reporting (IBR)
- GO 06-03 Stopping Motorists
- GO 06-06 Vehicle Pursuit Procedure
- GO 06-07 Emergency and Non-Emergency Response Vehicle Response Protocol
- GO 06-08 DUI-DUID
- GO 06-09 Family Violence Response
- GO 06-10 Restraint and Transportation of Custodial Arrestees
- GO 06-11 Fingerprinting, Photographing and Arrest Worksheet Procedures
- GO 06-15 Policing Playgrounds, Parks and Restricted Use of the James River
- GO 06-16 Shoplifting and Petit Larceny Arrest Warrants
- GO 06-17 Handling Mentally Ill Persons
- GO 06-26 Sign Language Interpretation for Deaf & Hearing-Impaired Persons
- GO 06-27 Department Ride-Along Program
- GO 06-30 Requesting Criminal History Records
- GO 06-31 Lethality Assessment Protocol
- GO 06-32 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
- GO 07-01 Preliminary & Follow-Up Investigations
- GO 07-02 Case File Preparation Procedures
- GO 07-03 Crime Scene Protection
- GO 07-05 Executing Arrest Warrants and Subpoenaing Witnesses
- GO 07-08 Procedure for Eyewitness Identification and Taking Interview Statements
- GO 07-09 Death Investigation Reporting, Notification of Death and Emergency Messages
- GO 07-10 Police Canine Utilization
- GO 07-13 Active Shootings, Active Threats, Hostage and/or Barricaded Subject Situations
- GO 07-16 Drug-Related Seizures
- GO 07-20 Child Abuse, Neglect or Abandonment
- GO 07-23 Services for Witnesses and Victim of Violent Crimes
- GO 07-25 Reporting Acts of Terrorism and Hate Crimes
- GO 07-27 Digital Evidence Procedures
- GO 07-29 Peer Support Team
- GO 07-33 Naloxone (Narcan)
- GO 07-36 On-Call Duty Assignment
- GO 08-01 Regulation of Traffic
- GO 08-07 Inventory, Towing, Seizure, Storage & Abandoned Vehicles
- GO 08-08 Parking Regulations
- GO 09-03 Differential Police Response (DPR)
- GO 09-04 Response to Alarms
- GO 09-06 Records Retention Protocol