6.5 Handling In-Progress Calls: Alarms, Burglary & Robbery Response
Key Takeaways
- POST Unit V.G, Handling In-Progress Calls, is an 8-hour required block, twice the size of most Patrol Procedures sub-topics.
- The response priority for an in-progress call is contain first, then locate, then apprehend — officers who rush past the perimeter turn a containment problem into a foot pursuit.
- Silent approach means lights and siren to a staging point, then no siren, no radio blare, no slamming doors, and headlights off before the last block.
- Colorado second degree burglary under C.R.S. 18-4-203 is a class 4 felony and rises to a class 3 felony when the building is a dwelling or the object is controlled substances.
- Aggravated robbery under C.R.S. 18-4-302 is a class 3 felony and a per se crime of violence under C.R.S. 18-1.3-406, requiring an aggravated-range sentence.
Handling In-Progress Calls: Alarms, Burglary & Robbery Response
Unit V.G — Handling In-Progress Calls (8 required hours) is one of the two largest tactical blocks in the Colorado POST academic program, behind only Vehicle Contacts and Rapid Emergency Deployment at 16 hours each. The reason is exposure: in-progress calls put an officer into an unknown environment, against an unknown number of subjects, with citizens present and a compressed decision cycle.
1. Response Priorities
The POST-taught priority order never changes, and the examination tests it as a sequence:
1. PRESERVE LIFE - officers, victims, bystanders, then suspects
2. CONTAIN - establish a perimeter before entry or pursuit
3. LOCATE - identify where the suspect actually is
4. APPREHEND - take custody on your terms, not theirs
5. PRESERVE EVIDENCE - scene integrity after the threat is resolved
The most common recruit error is inverting steps 2 and 4 — arriving, seeing movement, and chasing. A suspect inside a contained perimeter is a manageable problem. A suspect running through an uncontained neighborhood with a single officer behind him is an officer-safety emergency and a use-of-force decision made at a sprint.
2. Approach and Staging
| Element | Standard | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency operation | Lights and siren under C.R.S. 42-4-108 to a staging point, then discontinue | Statutory exemptions require the audible and visual signal; tactical surprise requires ending it |
| Stage distance | One to two blocks out, out of line of sight | Preserves surprise and gives a covered approach |
| Vehicle discipline | Headlights and dome light off, doors closed quietly, radio volume down, earpiece in | Sound and light travel further at night than officers estimate |
| Parking | Never in front of the address; park short and offset | Avoids the ambush lane and the fatal funnel of the doorway |
| Arrival broadcast | Location, direction of approach, and description before exiting | Prevents blue-on-blue and lets the next unit fill the gap |
Assignments before arrival. The first unit takes the primary side; the second takes the opposite corner so that two officers cover all four sides of a rectangular structure diagonally. Announcing "I have the one-two corner" is faster and less ambiguous than compass directions in the dark.
3. Alarm Response
The overwhelming majority of commercial and residential alarms are false — user error, weather, and equipment faults dominate. That statistical reality is exactly why complacency kills on this call type. The correct posture is treat every alarm as valid until the exterior is checked and a keyholder confirms otherwise.
Exterior check sequence: approach on the covered side, check all doors and windows for pry marks, glass damage, or open access; check the roof and any secondary structures; look for vehicles that do not belong; then, if no signs of entry exist, contact the keyholder and clear. Do not enter a commercial building on an unverified alarm without an articulated basis — the entry must rest on exigency, consent from a keyholder with authority, or a warrant.
4. Burglary in Progress
Colorado's burglary statutes drive the charging decision, and the officer's report must supply the elements:
| Offense | Statute | Class | Key element |
|---|---|---|---|
| First degree burglary | C.R.S. 18-4-202 | Class 3 felony | Assault, menace, or possession of an explosive or deadly weapon during the burglary |
| Second degree burglary | C.R.S. 18-4-203 | Class 4 felony; class 3 if a dwelling, or if the object is controlled substances in a pharmacy or facility | Knowing unlawful entry or remaining with intent to commit a crime therein |
| Third degree burglary | C.R.S. 18-4-204 | Class 5 felony; class 4 for controlled substances | Entry into a vault, safe, cash register, or similar receptacle |
| Possession of burglary tools | C.R.S. 18-4-205 | Class 5 felony | Possession with intent to use in a forcible entry |
The element that gets missed in reports is intent to commit a crime therein. Documenting the pry marks proves the entry; documenting the sorted property by the door, the pillowcase, the disabled camera, and the statements proves the intent.
5. Robbery in Progress
| Offense | Statute | Class | Distinguishing element |
|---|---|---|---|
| Robbery | C.R.S. 18-4-301 | Class 4 felony | Taking anything of value from another by use of force, threats, or intimidation |
| Aggravated robbery | C.R.S. 18-4-302 | Class 3 felony | Armed with a deadly weapon, or represents being armed, with intent to kill, maim or wound if resisted; also wounding or striking, or administering a substance |
| Aggravated robbery of a controlled substance | C.R.S. 18-4-303 | Class 3 felony | Target is a pharmacy or practitioner |
Aggravated robbery is a crime of violence under C.R.S. 18-1.3-406, which requires the court to sentence in the aggravated range. That is why officers must document precisely what the suspect said and displayed — "he put his hand in his jacket and said he had a gun" supports the represents being armed theory even when no weapon is recovered.
Response. Robbery calls are containment problems with a witness-management tail. Do not park in the lot. Establish an outer perimeter on the likely escape routes first. Get a clean, single-source suspect and vehicle description out fast — clothing from the ground up, direction of travel, and weapon — then slow down and refine it. Separate witnesses immediately and take independent accounts; contaminated descriptions are the single most common cause of failed showups.
Showup identifications. A prompt on-scene showup is permissible in Colorado when justified by proximity in time and place, but it must be conducted with an admonition that the person may or may not be the perpetrator, without suggestive commentary, and with each witness viewing separately. Record the witness's confidence statement in the witness's own words at the moment of the identification.
6. Scene Management After the Threat
- Render aid; request EMS. The duty to ensure medical aid is statutory under C.R.S. 18-1-707(2)(c).
- Freeze the scene; establish a single entry-exit point and a crime scene log.
- Identify and separate witnesses before they compare accounts.
- Preserve digital evidence — request that video systems be secured immediately, before automatic overwrite cycles run.
- Canvass outward: neighboring businesses, doorbell cameras, and vehicles in the lot.
- Notify investigations per agency policy while the scene is still intact.
Two officers are dispatched to a commercial burglary in progress. As the first officer arrives she sees a subject climbing out of a broken rear window and running north. The second officer is 45 seconds away. What response best reflects POST in-progress call priorities?
A suspect enters a convenience store, keeps his hand concealed inside his jacket pocket, tells the clerk 'give me the money or I'll shoot,' and flees with $200. No firearm is ever recovered. What Colorado offense is best supported?