# Emergency protective orders in California: what the police can get you, and the 5-to-7 day clock it starts > What an emergency protective order (EPO-001) is, who can ask for one, what a judge can order, how long it lasts, and what has to happen before it runs out. **Direct answer.** If you are in danger right now, call 911. A law enforcement officer — not you — requests an emergency protective order on form EPO-001, usually when someone calls the police, and a judge is available 24 hours a day to sign it. California Courts states an EPO usually lasts only 5 to 7 days. It is designed to buy time, not to be the protection you end up with: anyone who needs protection lasting longer has to apply for a restraining order of their own before it expires. ## You do not apply for it. An officer does. This is the difference that catches people. Every other order in this area is something you request from a court. An emergency protective order is requested by a law enforcement officer, usually when the victim of a crime calls the police or 911 for help. The officer fills out the Emergency Protective Order application (form EPO-001) and contacts a judge to review it. California Courts states a judge is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to sign off on these orders — which is the entire point of them, and the reason they exist alongside the ordinary daytime process. A judge can issue one to prevent future harm where there is domestic violence, child abuse, child abduction, stalking, or abuse of an elderly or dependent adult. ## What a judge can order An EPO can carry most of what a restraining order carries, including the two that change where someone sleeps tonight. - No contact with the people protected by the order. - No harassing, stalking, threatening, or hurting the people protected by the order. - Staying a certain distance from protected people, or from the places they live or go regularly. - Moving out of a home shared with the protected person. - No guns, firearms, ammunition, or body armor. ## The clock nobody mentions California Courts states an EPO only lasts a short time — usually 5 to 7 days. That is the fact worth carrying away from this page, because it is short enough that the week it covers is the week the next step has to happen in. If the person protected by the EPO needs protection that lasts longer, or wants orders the EPO does not include, California Courts states they can apply for a restraining order. That is a separate case, filed by you rather than by the police, and it starts from DV-100. An EPO and a restraining order are not alternatives. California Courts states a victim can have a restraining order and an EPO at the same time, and that where orders conflict, the last page of the order documents says which to follow. ## The gun-only version is a different order A Gun Violence Emergency Protective Order (form EPO-002) is a separate thing and it is easy to conflate. An officer can request one when they are worried someone will hurt themselves or others with a firearm. California Courts states it cannot include other orders — no stay-away, no no-contact. It also runs on a different clock: up to 21 days, followed by a court hearing where a judge decides whether to extend it, and an extension can run from one to five years. California Courts also states this type of order can be requested without police involvement, by a family member, roommate, employer, employee, teacher, or coworker. ## A criminal case can produce its own order If the person is arrested and charged, a judge can issue a Criminal Protective Order to protect victims and witnesses while the criminal case moves forward. It is issued in the criminal case, not in a case you file, and it can additionally order the defendant not to interfere with a victim or witness testifying and not to try to find where a protected person is. JusticeOS is not a law firm and does not give legal advice. What law enforcement will request, and what a judge will order, is theirs to decide; this page describes what California Courts publishes about the orders themselves. ## The official form is published in other languages EPO-001 is published by California Courts in Spanish, Chinese (Simplified), Korean, Vietnamese and Tagalog, alongside the English version. Those are the Judicial Council’s own translations of the form itself — the document you file — rather than summaries of it. Each translation is on that form’s own page at California Courts, linked under Official sources at the foot of this guide. These guides are written in English. California Courts also publishes a page on asking for a court interpreter, and makes a point worth repeating here: even for someone who speaks English in everyday life, the situations and language in court can be very difficult. ## Questions people ask next ### How do I get an emergency protective order? You do not request it yourself. If you are in danger right now, call 911. California Courts states that once police respond they can ask for an emergency protective order, and that an officer requests it on form EPO-001 from a judge who is available 24 hours a day. ### How long does an emergency protective order last? California Courts states an EPO usually lasts only 5 to 7 days. Protection lasting longer has to come from a restraining order you apply for yourself, which is why the days the EPO covers are the days the next filing has to happen in. ### Can an EPO make someone move out of the house? Yes. California Courts lists moving out of a home shared with the protected person among the orders a judge can include in an EPO, along with no-contact, stay-away, and no firearms, ammunition, or body armor. ### Can I have an EPO and a restraining order at the same time? Yes. California Courts states a victim can have a restraining order and an EPO or criminal protective order at the same time, and that if the orders conflict, the last page of the documents explains which to follow. ### Is a gun violence emergency protective order the same thing? No. Form EPO-002 addresses firearms only and cannot include stay-away or no-contact orders. California Courts states it lasts up to 21 days, with a hearing that can extend it for one to five years, and that a family member, roommate, employer, employee, teacher, or coworker can request one without police involvement. ## Official sources - [California Courts — Guide to Protective Orders](https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/protective-orders) - [California Courts — EPO-001 Emergency Protective Order](https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/jcc-form/EPO-001) - [California Courts — Domestic violence restraining orders](https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/DV-restraining-order) - [California Courts — Ask for an interpreter](https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/request-interpreter) ## Related guides - [How California DVRO filing works after you finish the forms](https://justiceos.ai/guides/dvro-filing) - [California domestic violence restraining-order forms: the starting packet](https://justiceos.ai/guides/california-dvro-forms) - [DV-110: the temporary order a judge fills in, not you](https://justiceos.ai/guides/dv-110) Published 2026-08-22. Reviewed against official California Courts guidance on 2026-08-22. --- JusticeOS is not a law firm, is not your lawyer, and does not give legal advice. It explains California court forms and procedure in plain language and cites official sources. In immediate danger call 911. National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233. Canonical HTML: https://justiceos.ai/guides/emergency-protective-order