In Riley v. Alameda County Sheriff's Office, published December 17, 2019, the First District Court of Appeal, Division 5 affirmed summary judgment for the defendant sheriff's office under Vehicle Code section 17004.7, which immunizes public agencies from liability for collisions involving vehicles pursued by peace officers if the agency adopts and promulgates a written policy on, and provides regular training for, vehicular pursuits. The plaintiff's motorcycle was struck by a car fleeing sheriff's deputies. He alleged that the sheriff's office's policy, promulgation of the policy, and training did not meet statutory requirements.
The court ruled that the policy, promulgation, and training met the requirements. The plaintiff contended that the policy did not meet the requirement to determine factors to be considered by an officer and supervisor in determining speeds throughout a pursuit. The court ruled that although the policy did not expressly state factors to be considered in determining speeds, it set forth 17 factors to be considered in making pursuit decisions, which included the speeds involved and other factors that would require the consideration of speed. Similarly, the training included warnings against excessive speeds, and required consideration of factors involving speed. The law did not require the policy to include numeric speed limits. The court also rejected the argument that the department's promulgation of the policy did not meet the requirements of ordering that all officers sign off on the policy. The department promulgated a general order requiring all officers to read the policy in a timely manner and sign off electronically that they had done so. Eighty percent of officers in the department had done so.
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