More from Indy

More details have come out from the incident/pursuit in Indianapolis last week, when the fleeing vehicle ran into a daycare center. Luckily no one was killed. From the Indy Star:

"This one I wouldn't stick on the cops," said South Carolina University Professor Geoff Alpert, a frequent critic of police chases.

John Phillips, founder of the advocacy group PursuitWatch .org, said, "I don't have any problem with what they did."

...

Phillips of PursuitWatch.org said he wondered why the police didn't "come out and say, 'Yes, we chased them, and we should have.' "

Even in jurisdictions with the strictest pursuit policies -- such as Orlando, Fla., where officers are instructed to turn off their lights and turn around if a fleeing motorist is considered nonviolent -- chasing armed robbers is justified, he said

For the rest, click HERE.

Hot pursuit: Dashcam video fuels Rugby Road chase debate

I was recently quoted in an article about a pursuit in Virginia that raised a lot of questions.

About two months after the August 7 incident, which captured widespread attention after the car’s driver somehow disappeared from a seemingly fatal wreck, a 17-year-old city student was arrested in mid-October, according to Charlottesville spokesperson Ric Barrick, who— in response to a reporter’s request— released a tape of the chase, a 112-second video in which even the police car hits 85mph on the residential road.

This is a very interesting article, and the journalism is top notch. To continue,

Despite fears that crime would explode, Orlando and Orange County, Florida, went ahead in 2004 with what may be the nation’s most restrictive ones. They limit pursuits to those involving people suspected of violent crimes.

John Phillips remembers all too well what spurred the policy.

In 2001, when he was 18 years old, his older sister was a college sophomore preparing to enter a nursing program. Sarah Phillips went out one night with three friends to a movie. After dropping off her friends, she unknowingly found herself on the same road as a police pursuit.

To read the rest, click HERE.

Monday 11/24: WFTV @ 6PM

I'll be appearing as part of a story about the PIT maneuver on the Orlando ABC network, WFTV, this evening at 6 PM. Check back for more updates.

Fleeing suspects crash into wall in Orange County

According to the Orlando Sentinel, when two men were pulled over and questioned about their potential involvement in an armed robbery, they sped off at a high rate of speed. Shortly after, the Sheriff's Department's helicopter spotted a vehicle matching the description that had crashed into a brick wall.

The men were arrested for fleeing from deputies, but investigators did not confirm if the two men were responsible for the armed robbery. The victim in that crime told deputies the robbers were wearing masks, reports show.

No word on what exactly transpired from when the suspects decided to flee till they crashed into the brick wall.

Continue to the Orlando Sentinel story HERE.

Chase in Orlando ends in crash

According to the Orlando Sentinel, the Orlando PD was involved in a chase that ended in a crash damaging the suspects vehicle and three unmarked PD vehicles. There were no injuries.

Teague, 28, was taken into custody on the following warrants: home invasion robbery with a firearm, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, kidnapping and failure to appear in court. He faces additional charges of aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, felony fleeing and eluding and traffic charges for this morning's chase.

Click HERE for the OS story (with video).

Orlando Sentinel: Murder suspect arrested after chase on I-4

According to the Orlando Sentinel, a murder suspect was arrested this morning following a chase in downtown Orlando that included parts of I-4.

The suspects exited at Colonial Drive, striking several vehicles at the exit ramp, Jones said. Both Frasilus and Knox, 26, suffered minor injuries in the crashes. "Unfortunately [Frasilus'] actions dictated what we had to do to get him into custody," Jones said.

Police captured the pair and took them into custody at Colonial and Hughey Avenue. The tan Buick they were in suffered damage to the passenger's side and was towed away from the scene after crime scene investigators examined the mess.

Read the rest of the story HERE.

Mmmmm... Research

Post #1: The Beginning

Orange County, FL has one of the strongest and most progressive vehicle pursuit policies in the nation. A vital part of a good policy is the ability to review incidents. Whenever someone fails to pull over when asked, deputies are required to fill out a Vehicle Apprehension (V.A.) Form. This form includes, among other things, location, time, and results of the attempt to pull over the suspect.

PursuitWatch.org has begun a informative study of the V.A. forms. They can tell us a lot about the state of police pursuits in a county with a large population and a progressive pursuit policy.

This blog post will be continually updated throughout the research process with:

- Methods of study
- Results of study
- Opinions of the research process
- And anything else I can think of

...Keep checking back.

Post #2: Problems

The Orange County Sheriff's Office has been wonderful in providing me the tools to do this research. There are, however, limitations to my access to the V.A. forms.

• There are literally thousands of these forms.
  
• Before June of 2006, V.A. forms were not kept in a central location. They were housed throughout the county in various offices. However, in June of last year, the decision was made that all V.A. forms should be kept together, so all of the forms dating back to 2003, were brought to headquarters. It would take endless hours to sort these forms out. So, the only way to gage proper sample size would be to draw from the forms, starting with July of 2006 to June of 2007, the time period after the forms begun to be organized. Of these files, they are separated by month.
  
• There is sensitive information on the forms that I cannot view. For example, if the suspect that failed to stop is a juvenile, I cannot view any of the information. Also, things like names and social security numbers of the suspects are personal data that must be blacked out. Because of this I cannot myself sort through these forms. I can only view them once they have been reviewed. Will this spoil the results. No. I am taking every necessary step to ensure an accurate sample size. I will talk more about that as the process continues.
  

Next, I will be talking about the sample size that I have decided to go with, and why. Again, this study will be done correctly to ensure that the findings can be stated with confidence.

...More to come.

Post #3: Maps

An essential part of the research we are tackling here deals with the location of the incidents. We would like to be able to, for example, say that a "majority" or "1/3" of these incidents occurred in this part of the county. This, however, brings up a few questions. Since it is a quantitative study of the Vehicle Apprehension Forms, a way of coding must be established. Here are a few of the ideas that are being discussed.

We can divide the county up as the OCSO does, by sectors. Below is their county map divided by sectors.
A simple glance at the map brings up a glaring problem. How can this map be used to provide accurate numbers? For example, what if our study finds that there were four times as many incidents in zone 2 then there was in zone 6? Does that mean anything? Well, first, zone 2 is much, much larger than zone 6. But, at the same time, zone 6 might have a larger population, more roads, or more traffic.

Another way of approaching the geography issue is by dividing the county up in to areas with the same amount of square miles. This also has a few drawbacks. What if one sector has almost no roads, or traffic, thus no incidents?

So the question remains, can we accurately view the results using this method? The solution might involve using both methods. Also, as is the case with any research, the methods must be accurately explained so that, as a college professor of mine would always say, "you don't become dangerous."

Another method that will be done is simply dotting the point of the incident on a map of the county. That way one can understand that makeup of the counties incidents. This, however, is not quantitative.

Pursuit in Orlando:

Police pursued what they thought was a suspect in a shooting and robbery last night, finding out when the pursuit ended they were chasing the wrong man. The fleeing man was arrested on drug charges, driving with a suspended license, and felony fleeing. Police were given the description of the vehicle involved in the robbery, which matched the description of the vehicle the fled. The chase occurred around the MetroWest area of Orlando. Police are still looking for the suspect in the armed robbery.

Source: Orlando Sentinel

Three County Pursuit In Central Florida

Last night, a three county pursuit in Central Florida ended when stop sticks deflated the fleeing vehicles tires, forcing him to surrender. Two men apparently robbed a fast-food restaurant at gun point, which led to the pursuit. Orlando Police initiated the pursuit. According to their policy, the pursuit was justified. HERE is a link (with video) to the Orlando Sentinel story.

Below are the violent forcible felonies that warrant pursuits by the Orlando Police Department:

1. Murder.

2. Manslaughter.

3. Armed robbery.

4. Armed sexual battery.

5. Arson to a structure reasonably believed to be occupied.

6. Use of explosive devices to a structure reasonably believed to be occupied.

7. Kidnapping

8. Armed carjacking.

9. Burglary armed with a firearm.

10. Aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer with a deadly weapon (firearm, edged weapon). Does not include a motor vehicle.

11. Aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer resulting in serious injury.

Police are still searching for a second suspect in connection with the robbery.