FAQs - Police & Jail Policies

There are 150+ Model Law Enforcement Policies and 150+ Model Jail Policies.

Our policies were developed for small to large law enforcement and jail operations. The concept of the policies was not for you to necessarily install all of them. Rather, they were made "cafeteria style" so that you could choose which ones were most important for you at the time.

We have a listing of The Deadly Dozen® law enforcement and The Big Ten® jail liability issues that you may want to start on first. Contact us for more information.

Absolutely. In fact, the data is in Microsoft® Word® and each policy is made with field codes to easily insert your department's specific information, i.e., Chief, Sheriff or Jailer's Name, Department Name, Address, etc. Additionally, we provide technical support to all of our clients.

Yes, just contact us to discuss your needs.

Great question. We estimate there are over 2,000 departments and jail organizations that currently use our policies on a regular basis. In addition to adopting them for department use, they may use them as research material, a foundation for building their own, for comparison purposes, etc.

We currently consult with major insurance carriers who utilize our policies as a customer service benefit. Under licensing agreements, they are allowed to distribute our policies on their own. Also, our policies and procedures were adopted by the State of Mississippi Department of Public Safety as their model law enforcement and jail policies and procedures for distribution within the state.

Our policies are consistent with CALEA recommended practices. In fact, the State of Mississippi DPS utilized our policies to form the basis of their new state accreditation program with CALEA. Also, many CALEA approved departments have used our policies to assist them in gaining accreditation.

Some of the organizations we refer to during our development research include the American Correctional Association, American Jail Association, Commission on Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies, International Association of Chiefs of Police, National Sheriffs Association, Police Executive Research Forum, various federal statutes, various state board regulatory agencies, and ongoing case law.

$695 for law enforcement and $695 for jail. If you purchase both sets, you will receive a $150 discount.

Yes, but on a case by case basis. Should you have a need to receive an additional discount, contact us.

Our policies have been reviewed by state regulatory agencies, attorneys, national risk managers, and law enforcement and jail management personnel; not to mention, every client that has or is currently adopting the policies for use within their department.

You bet. In fact you may wish to download our Policy Development Services literature. You can also contact us for more information.

Yes. This is covered in our Policy Development Services literature, or you can contact us.

No.  OSS electronic products are NOT under a Single User License.  Our products are designed to be used, altered, modified and distributed throughout the entire agency.  The only limitation is that OSS products may not be distributed outside of the purchasing agency as they are under a Copyright and purchased by one entity.

The Supreme Court determined in Turner v. Safley, 482 US 78 that correctional managers can do many things in a jail to restrict what would otherwise be a constitutional right. Such as, the right to receive US Mail. To have a policy that is contradictory to constitutional rights, requires a stated penological interest. Without a stated penological interest within the policy would require that the penological interest of the institution be argued later in a lawsuit. In our opinion, it is better to have this interest considered, defined and stated at the time of policy development. Each of OSS’ Jail Policies include a penological interest statement.

The warning statement at the bottom of each page is an effort to protect the integrity of the policies themselves and specifically in life-saving tactical responses. Clearly, an agency can remove this statement easily from each page or throughout the entire set at their option. However, historically, the inclusion of this statement has limited and in many cases prevented release of critical policies to the general public. As a reminder, our policies are in Microsoft Word format … any or all of the text can be amended, altered, changed, deleted, etc.

There are several ways to pay for your products, i.e., check, credit card, purchase order, etc.  The easiest method for you is fine with us.  One avenue ... you may simply complete the OSS order form and fax to 281-288-7019, we will send you an invoice.