Archived Policy: This policy is outdated and kept only for historical reference.

4-402 - Vehicle Idling

4-402 - Vehicle Idling

  • Summary: Limits idling of MPD vehicles with specific exemptions.
  • Dates Effective: 04-23-2010 to 03-03-2025
  • View current policy

Idling of unoccupied marked and unmarked police vehicles shall be prohibited except in the following circumstances:

  • The squad is a K-9 vehicle with the dog inside;
  • The vehicle is double-parked or otherwise impeding traffic away from the curb due to a call, or at a crime scene and requires the emergency lights to remain on;
  • During a traffic stop;
  • During any police action taking place real-time in which the employee has to momentarily leave the vehicle but plans to be returning quickly – such as a response to calls;
  • In inclement weather where leaving a squad running is necessary to provide uninterrupted service.

Employees shall not leave unoccupied police vehicles idling in precinct parking lots or while OTL.

Employees shall not idle police vehicles at off-duty jobs whether they occupy the vehicle or not, without prior written permission granted via the Off-Duty Employment Idling Request Form (MP-9060).

Employees shall not intentionally position an unoccupied police vehicle in a double-parked or traffic-impeding position so as to meet the conditions above, if not on a call or at a crime scene.

Definitions

Refer to the Commonly Used Terms page for general definitions.


Document History:

Title Effective Date Revision Type Download
4-402 - Vehicle Idling 04-23-2010

download PDF
4-415 - Vehicle Idling 03-04-2025

Renumbered

download PDF

Revision Types and Descriptions

  • New: Policy had been added.
  • Combined: Two or more policies were merged.
  • Definitions Update: A glossary definition was updated.
  • Terms Update: A term, not necessarily tied to the glossary, was updated in the Manual.
  • Edited - Major: Significant content or procedural changes.
  • Edited - Minor: Small edits, clarifications, or formatting changes.
  • Renamed: Policy title changed.
  • Renumbered: Policy number was changed.
  • Split: Single policy was divided into multiple.
  • Eliminated: Policy was removed and is no longer in effect.
  • PRH Implementation: Edits for the Policy and Resource Hub; no content changes.