To our Fellow LEO Members: When is it a bad idea to chase a suspect?

[BaiHu]

and would this be one of them or is that a MMQB'ing statement?

Not a lot of info yet, but with helicopters (traffic and other wise), is there a better way to deal with these situations??

MISSION, Texas (AP) — Authorities say six people were killed after a stolen truck being pursued by authorities crashed into several vehicles at an intersection in South Texas.

According to a Texas Department of Public Safety statement, a DPS sergeant was pursuing the truck Monday afternoon just north of the city of Mission when the stolen vehicle hit three other cars.

http://houston.cbslocal.com/2013/08/...-police-chase/

[Coyotesfan97]

We don't chase stolen vehicles. If the airship is up they'll follow and relay where they are and if they bail. Pursuits for us are violent felonies and they don't get called very often.


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[KeeFus]

Chases are always risky. For most felonies we continue otherwise we don't, with the exception of DWI's. I have even engaged in chases for silly misdemeanors in my younger years. If I know the driver I generally disregard and arrest later. It's real easy to get sucked in to a pursuit for what amounts to "contempt of cop" and most experienced officers recognize that fact. If we are lucky, NCSHP helicopters are about 20 minutes west of us and have helped us out a few times...if they're available.

One of my first chases (we were actually secondary) went to shit about 3 blocks in. The suspect, who was driving revoked, was known to the initial unit who was FTO'ing a rookie. He should have disregarded and gotten a warrant but didn't. Suspect drove thru a busy intersection around 1730 or so at about 70 MPH and t-boned a Pontiac Grand-Am being driven by a mother of 2. She was killed, one of the children was thrown from the vehicle and I almost ran over her. She was not breathing when I got to her but we saved her. She would be about 20 now. The other child was entangled in sheet metal but the child seat saved him. Bad day for all involved. Lawsuit was settled outside of court. I was also exposed to body fluids and had to be tested for almost 2 years. The initial officer in this pursuit got out of law enforcement within a year. The rookie that was with him quit.

You have to learn to take a moment and consider a lot of factors; offense, time of day, traffic conditions, weather conditions, to list a few. It looks like the linked incident is a huge shit sandwich, especially for the DPS officer. So, to answer your question, it's hard to say. A lot of factors have to be considered and the supervisors working need to get a lot of necessary information at the beginning of the pursuit so they can make a decision to continue or not because if they allow an unnecessary pursuit to continue they are also held liable.

We had a chase here about a month ago that started out as a robbery. The suspect then carjacked another victim in the next parking lot. The chase went on into an adjacent county where it ended in a shoot out.

Like I said earlier...chases by their very nature are risky and the endings are never guaranteed.

[BJJ]

I've only been a cop for 6 years so I don't have the chase stories that more experienced officers do. By more experienced, I mean officers who have been on long enough that they worked under different pursuit policies. Our policy is that the risk to the public if the suspect remains at large must be greater than the risk to the public from the pursuit. It pretty much has to be a violent felony for us to chase and even then you will be told to discontinue if the combination of traffic, speed and weather gets out of hand. A work buddy of mine was involved in a similar situation as described above where the suspect crashed into a citizen and killed her. It is easy for us to get caught up in the moment but if you stop to think about your family member minding their own business and then being killed in a pursuit related traffic crash that was over something that could have been handled without a pursuit, it is quite sobering. The helicopter is your best friend for pursuits.

I had a guy on a crotch rocket motorcycle blast off the other day when I lit him up. I didn't even speed up. I just put out the description and which way he was headed. Helicopter wasn't up so that was it.

Foot pursuits are a whole different can of worms. They are still dangerous but almost none of the danger is to the general public so it is a lot different.

[Clyde from Carolina]

Like Keefus said, always very very risky and yes, chase policies have gotten better (smarter, in my opinion) over the years. I was in some dumb chases years ago that make me shudder now (for things like gas drive offs) that were okay by policy and the accepted practice at the time. I was lucky I didn't get anybody killed, including myself.

[Lon]

As I get older I have changed positions on whether or not pursuits are worth it. When I was younger I thought we should chase everyone til the wheels came off. After 18 years on the job I've seen the cost of pursuits over dumb stuff. Now, I firmly believe in a restricted pursuit policy. I don't want anyone killed over what started as a traffic violation. As much as it ticks me off to let people get away, I'll get over it.

[LittleLebowski]

A good friend of mine lost his father as an innocent bystander in a police chase shortly after said friend got home from Iraq.

[LHS]

We don't chase stolen vehicles. If the airship is up they'll follow and relay where they are and if they bail. Pursuits for us are violent felonies and they don't get called very often.

Almost a decade ago, I witnessed the end of a chase in Mesa, AZ. I was stopped at a light, in the left turn lane. I saw a flash in my rear view, followed by a little Honda screaming into the intersection from behind. It T-boned a car and came to a stop right as the first cruiser arrived. The driver of the Honda staggered out into the road, trying to get away, but was hit with a tackle worthy of Sports Center. I clapped. The passenger staggered out, saw the hit, and just sat down. I thought about getting out to help the poor folks who got hit, but an ambulance was already arriving.

From a purely civilian standpoint, I agree with the new thinking on pursuits, especially in a crowded urban environment and with access to air support.

[jlw]

Our supervisors take immediate command of any pursuit. Typically if it doesn't involve a forcible felony the pursuit is shut down. Chase are a clear avenue to second guessing;.

[Clyde from Carolina]

Our supervisors take immediate command of any pursuit. Typically if it doesn't involve a forcible felony the pursuit is shut down. Chase are a clear avenue to second guessing;.

My perspective on pursuits "grew up" a lot and got decidedly more mature when I became a supervisor/sergeant.