CHP Powers...

[NorCalN00b]

Do CHP officers have full power as a city cop?

[2100VC]

What exactly do you mean by "full power"?

If you mean peace officer powers then that would have to be YES.

Sections 830 (.1, .2 etc ) of the Penal Code lists all the info.

[Tom]

As I recall, and I could be wrong, the only things we couldn't do is - issue a "dispersal order" and conduct "bar checks." It's been awhile so someone may have a better memory than me. Other than that we are all the same.

Tom

[Mac]

As I recall, and I could be wrong, the only things we couldn't do is - issue a "dispersal order" and conduct "bar checks." It's been awhile so someone may have a better memory than me. Other than that we are all the same.

Tom
You've pretty much got it - we can't declare an "unlawful assembly" and give the order to disperse. OTOH, however, we have the authority to go into tow yards and auto body shops to do VIN checks without warrants, which allied agencies can't do.

We CAN conduct bar checks, our agency just doesn't want us doing it. I remember back in the 80s at some point, there was a (very short-lived) effort by ABC to have us start doing bar checks in unincorporated areas.....that didn't last long once it hit the third floor!

[Tom]

Man, Mac I missed my calling.....I would be great at bar checks...in college towns!:biggrin:

Tom

[Mac]

Man, Mac I missed my calling.....I would be great at bar checks...in college towns!:biggrin:
I know what you mean! ;) I got to do them for a couple years as a PD Explorer/Reserve before the CHP.....they can be fun, but a couple of the most hellacious fights I've ever been in came from bar checks, too!

[retchp]

NorCalN00b wrote:Do CHP officers have full power as a city cop?

Dude, do have a bumper sticker on your Saab that says, "Question Authority"?? I can't recall how many times I have ticketed, arrested or dragged through the gravel and then arrested people who questioned CHP authority to do this or that...but it was a lot.

CHP officers are cops period. Anywhere in the state at any time of the day or night. All Roads All Codes means exactly that. You might add Border to Border too and as far as that goes, I once chased an idiot twenty five miles into Oregon. He was spike stripped by OSP and Medford PD near Medford. I took him into custody, turned him over to Medford PD and came back three days later with an extradition warrant and booked him in California.

I also have done the same thing on the Nevada and Arizona borders several times. Each time the nitwit thought that once he was "out of CHP jurisdiction he was home free":rolleyes:

[SuperTrooper]

I remember watching a show called Real Stories of the Highway Patrol with one of the true stories being about a high speed chase in San Diego where the suspect ended up taking a dirt road into Mexico and the CHP still pursued him across the border and eventually caught him in Mexico. I thought that was pretty cool... Too bad the CHP wasn't established when Poncho Villa was around. :lol:

[Flying Pig]

Why cant you guys give dispersal orders? Is it a Dept policy ?

[Mac]

Why cant you guys give dispersal orders? Is it a Dept policy ?
Nah....it's specified in the PC section. Probably one of those archaic things that nobody's ever bothered to update because it doesn't come up that often.

[ka4993]

Do CHP officers have full power as a city cop?

ALL ROADS ALL CODES!!!!!!:cool:

[KingFrankSam]

Why cant you guys give dispersal orders? Is it a Dept policy ?

The answer to this lies in Penal Code Section 726, which states, "Where any number of persons, whether armed or not, are unlawfully or riotously assembled, the sheriff of the county and his
or her deputies, the officials governing the town or city, or any of them, must go among the persons assembled, or as near to them as possible, and command them, in the name of the people of the state, immediately to disperse."

Mac is most likely correct, it was probably written before the creation of the Highway Patrol, and was never updated.

[Welpe]

So how would that work, say during the San Luis Obispo Riots of 2004?

Since the CHP was working with the City of San Luis Obispo, would they then be able to issue such an order?

[SuperTrooper]

They should amend that Section then. I see LAPD officers give dispersal orders over their PAs all the time, I guess they technically can't do that.

[KingFrankSam]

Police Departments are included in that section under the phrase, "the officials governing the town or city". PD's and Sheriffs are authorized to issue an order to disperse.

[SR-25]

Police Departments are included in that section under the phrase, "the officials governing the town or city". PD's and Sheriffs are authorized to issue an order to disperse.

Well then technically, in cities that are too small to have their own PD and the CHP are first responders, they would be considered the "officials governing the town or city".

[KingFrankSam]

Actually, if a town is unincorporated, and does not have its own police force, then the county's Sheriff's Office is the agency with primary jurisdiction for everything except traffic and State facilities. That does not mean that the CHP will not respond. The CHP may arrive at a riot or an unlawful assembly before the P.D. or S.O., but a CHP Officer can not issue a legal dispersal order.

[2100VC]

One more thing... most of the time we hang our hats on this authority in the VC. This is how we can deal with people blocking highways during protests etc.

2410. Members of the California Highway Patrol are authorized to
direct traffic according to law, and, in the event of a fire or other
emergency, or to expedite traffic or insure safety, may direct
traffic as conditions may require notwithstanding the provisions of
this code.

Don't forget ....pedestrians are traffic too!

2100VC