Grimshore Police Quick Operational Checklists

Slow the scene down, protect life and establish a reliable operating picture.

• Broadcast arrival, exact location, immediate hazards and whether further Police, Ambulance or Fire resources are required.
• Separate urgent lifesaving action from evidence preservation; do not delay necessary treatment to protect an exhibit.
• Identify involved people, witnesses, vehicles and likely offenders before they disperse.
• Set an inner working area and a safe outer staging point where the incident warrants it.
• Create or identify the incident record and nominate scene, evidence and liaison responsibilities.

Every stop needs a lawful reason, a safe position and a professional explanation.

• Select a location that protects officers, the stopped driver and passing traffic; update dispatch with plate and location.
• Approach with awareness of occupants, traffic, escape routes and visible hazards.
• Identify yourself, state the reason for the stop and request only information authorised by the situation.
• Separate observations from assumptions and confirm licence, registration and alerts through authorised records.
• Resolve proportionately through education, warning, infringement, defect action, search, arrest or safe release, then document material action.

Confirm authority before entry, handling property or expanding the scope.

• Identify the legal or policy basis: consent, incident to arrest, protective search, vehicle authority, warrant or another approved power.
• Explain the search where operationally safe and record any consent, limitation or withdrawal.
• Search only the person, place, vehicle or container covered by the authority and stop when the objective is complete.
• List seized property accurately, use evidence identifiers and preserve continuity from recovery onward.
• Record grounds, scope, occupants, property damage, exhibits, notifications and final disposition.

An arrest begins a duty of care as well as a legal process.

• Confirm identity and objective grounds, state that the person is under arrest and provide the reason as soon as practicable.
• Search, restrain and transport proportionately; continuously consider injury, intoxication, mental state and escape risk.
• Protect legal rights and access to appropriate medical care without promising a court or sentence outcome.
• Link each proposed charge to facts and evidence; avoid duplicating offences for the same conduct.
• Complete custody, property, charge, incident, officer-report and evidence records before clearing responsibility.

The need to apprehend must continuously outweigh the danger created by continuing.

• Broadcast the offence, vehicle, direction, traffic, weather, speed, occupants and immediate risk.
• Establish primary, secondary and supervising units; keep unnecessary vehicles out of the pursuit.
• Reassess after every major change, collision, pedestrian hazard, loss of visual contact or escalation in driving behaviour.
• Use tactical contact, tyre-deflation or containment only when trained, authorised and proportionate to the current threat.
• If terminated, broadcast clearly, reduce speed safely, coordinate later investigation and record the decision and known evidence.

Force is a controlled response to behaviour and must stop when the need ends.

• Where practicable, identify yourself, communicate, create time and distance, request support and offer a clear opportunity to comply.
• Select the least force reasonably capable of controlling the actual threat; reassess after every application.
• Do not punish, retaliate or continue force against a controlled person.
• Secure weapons, provide or request medical care, notify a supervisor and preserve body-worn or scene evidence.
• Record subject behaviour, warnings, options considered, force used, effectiveness, injury, care and final outcome.

A defensible exhibit remains identifiable from its original location to its final case use.

• Control access and note unavoidable movement, treatment or contamination before collection begins.
• Photograph or describe each exhibit in place with its exact location, condition and relationship to the scene.
• Use the authorised collection interaction, confirm the unique identifier and package separately where contamination is possible.
• Record collector, time, location, method, container and every later transfer or examination.
• Link exhibits and supported results to the incident and officer report, including conflicting or exculpatory findings.

Major harm requires command, preservation, welfare and independent review.

• Request Police command, Ambulance, Fire and specialist resources early; establish command and a shared staging point.
• Separate continuing threat control from casualty care, public safety and investigation.
• Protect involved officers and witnesses from collusion while meeting welfare and medical needs.
• Preserve weapons, vehicles, recordings, dispatch traffic, exhibits and the scene log.
• Record command transfers, significant decisions, notifications and the handover to the authorised investigator or Internal Affairs.

A complete record allows another officer, supervisor or court participant to understand the case without guessing.

• Confirm the correct incident, involved persons, vehicles, locations, times and responding units.
• Write individual observations and grounds in the officer report; do not copy another officer’s perspective as your own.
• Link charges to offence elements, reports, evidence identifiers, images, warrants and relevant alerts.
• Record property returned, seized, destroyed, stored or transferred, and identify outstanding actions.
• Proofread names, dates, classifications and outcomes; correct mistakes through an auditable amendment rather than deletion.