Silicon Valley Mercury News

Tuesday afternoon a man decided not to pull over when a California Highway Patrol officer attempted to stop him for a simple traffic violation. The officer pursed, and about one mile later the suspect crashed into another vehicle, killing a 15-year-old. From the Silicon Valley Mercury News:

[The suspect] has 13 arrests in the county, including multiple convictions for drug use and a prior conviction for reckless driving while evading police. He was recently released from county jail, according to court records.

This guy has fled police before, which strengthens the case for strong punishment for those who do flee, even if they do not hurt or kill anyone.

As for this pursuit, it should have never happened. Although details are still hard to come by, according to the story, the pursuit took place during the afternoon in an urban setting near San Jose State University. The pursuit lasted about 1 mile, and the suspect struck the victim's car with such force, it nearly split in two. PursuitWatch.org was quoted in this story:

"What we have here is a dumb, young criminal making another poor decision," said John Phillips, a national police-pursuit critic. "We should not compound their bad decisions with our own."

Phillips, whose sister was killed in a similar situation in 2001, said that the CHP officer should not have pursued the suspect on the basis of an illegal turn.

PursuitWatch.org, Phillips' organization, advocates pursuing only those who are suspected of committing a violent crime. This is the policy of some departments, including San Jose's.

"The officer should have notified the chain of command that the vehicle did not pull over, obtain a license plate and description if possible, and turn around and turn off his/her lights," Phillips said. "Today's technology allows us to use other methods. Just because the suspect gets out of the sight of the first officer does not mean he will get away."

You can read the rest of the story HERE.

USA Today

PursuitWatch was quoted in a USA Today story regarding departments second guessing their pursuit policies.

"The sad thing is when departments make changes, it's usually after something bad happens, and the public wakes up and says, 'What's going on here?' " says John Phillips, head of PursuitWatch.org, a non-profit group advocating safe police chases. Phillips' sister, Sarah, 20, was a bystander killed in a police chase in Orange County, Fla., in 2001.

You can read the entire piece HERE, and if you are visiting PursuitWatch because of the story, please let me know what you think.

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.

The Huntsville Times

The Huntsville Times published a story concerning the death of Darren Spurlock, an innocent bystander who left behind his wife and children age 6 and 3.

John Harriss Phillips, president of the Florida-based PursuitWatch.org, said an officer pursuing someone who has not committed a violent crime is akin to "shooting a gun in a crowded room. Sometimes, nothing will happen. Other times, you'll hit other people."

Phillips' interest in chases is personal. His sister, Sarah Phillips, died in 2001 in a crash with a fleeing vehicle in Orange County, Fla. Sarah's father, the late Jim Phillips, started PursuitWatch with the goal of pushing safer and smarter police pursuit policies. John Phillips took the helm of PursuitWatch when his father died.

"I think a lot of times, the negative perception is that if we don't pursue, the bad guys get away," Phillips told The Times by phone. Phillips questions the need for pursuit if police have a tag number or the identity of the suspect and there's no imminent danger to the public.

You can continue reading the story HERE.