Archive: Pursuit Policy is more than just pursuit policy

A well researched, well-written and well thought-out pursuit policy is not worth the paper it is written on if it ends there. Just as much thought and research should go into the training process, tracking and review. All four of these areas are critical to good pursuit policy:

1. Policy is the foundation
2. Training in pursuit policy, decision-making, tactics and driving.
3. Tracking-thorough data collection allows departments to identify policy weaknesses, training deficiencies and trends that are critical to successful implementation and refinement of policy/training.
4. Review-allows for accountability.

To have an effective policy each of these four areas must be addressed and weakness in any of them compromises a successful policy. The most difficult aspect of pursuit policy is the continued attention to the first four areas and an ongoing departmental commitment to smarter and safer pursuits.

"Classes encourage cops to review pursuit policies"

PursuitWatch was recently mentioned in an article in The Monitor of Edinburg, Texas.

There were 404 fatalities nationwide that stemmed from police pursuits in 2006, according to an analysis of government data by PursuitWatch.org, a pursuit safety advocate. Among those deaths, 133 of the victims were bystanders or occupants of uninvolved vehicles.

The piece continues:

epending on the nature of the offense — especially if no felony was committed — it may be best to cut loose the suspect, despite the officer’s desire to catch the criminal.

“Using good common sense — that’s what it boils down to,” Rodriguez said. “Once you get their license plates, let them go. We’ll get them later.”

I couldn't agree more. To read the piece, click HERE.

Capt. Travis Yates: Driver training and the typical police agency

The following is an excerpt from an article written by Capt. Travis Yates at Policeone.com. Yates, as well as Ron Kelley are friends of PursuitWatch.org.

Deputy Ron Kelley, a member of the International Law Enforcement Educators & Trainers Association and law enforcement driving instructor says it best when he discusses the “Three C’s”.

“Just because something has not happened, doesn't mean it won't in the future. This creates three human actions. We become complacent, careless and comfortable. All three are a path to tragedy.”

Is that tragedy waiting at your agency? In seminars, I often discuss the typical police agency:

• A pursuit or emergency run ends tragic.
• The media becomes involved and looks into the issue.
• Concerned citizens express their concern.
• The pursuit policy is changed in reaction to the third party involvement.
• Driver training is implemented.

The above scenario will either sound familiar to you or one day it likely will.

Unfortunately, the scenario mentioned above tends to be the archetype for strengthening a departments pursuit policy. I would venture out to say that 90% of the media requests I get start out along the lines of, "Hi Mr. Phillips, we had an incident here in ABC when XYZ did this."

To read the entire article, click HERE.

Driver training stops after the academy...

Our friend, Ron Kelley, was recently featured in a story by KSDK concerning police vehicle training in Illinois and Missouri.

Ron Kelley has been in law enforcement for the past 27 years and is affiliated with the Association of Law Enforcement Emergency Response Trainers and the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association. He travels the country teaching advanced driving classes to police and troopers.

"If they have not had any training since they were in the academy, Leisa, humans resort back to bad habits. They become complacent. They need to be reminded," Kelley said. "Eighty percent of their career is behind the wheel of a vehicle and operating at very high speeds. That training needs to be emphasized."

Kimberly Cochran, ISP Academy Commander, does not agree with Kelley's philosophy.

"We don't do the driving because the officers use that skill every day. They drive over 45 million miles a year and they use those skills daily," Cochran said.

Unfortunately, Kimberly Cochran isn't right. Do officers us the PIT maneuver daily? Do they deploy stop sticks daily? Do they practice proper communication and strategy of a pursuit with fellow officers daily? Exactly.

You can read the full story HERE. There is also an accompanying video.

It's a new year

The new year has begun, and as I try to get back in the swing of things after taking some time off, there are a few things that are worth noting:

• Everyone should check out Affordable Mobile Law Enforcement Training/High Liability. Founded by Ron Kelley, its goal is to provide affordable driver training to law enforcement. They offer a wide variety of solutions understanding potential funding issues and will even help a department solicit donations.
  
• Continuing with the training talk, HERE is a story about the correlation between the lack of training and the increased number of accidents in Maryland.
  
• Some interesting stories have been circling the last few weeks. The Clarion Ledger has run several stories about a potential Mississippi statewide pursuit policy that will be discussed in the upcoming legislative session. HERE is their story discussing the issue, as well as their editorial opinion HERE.
  
• I have been following and writing about the Franklinton PD and their policy after the death of two innocent sisters. They have since begun to form a panel to review their pursuit policy. Read the WRAL.com story HERE.
  

2007 was a productive year. PursuitWatch has continued to grow and I have some lofty goals for 2008. All the while, innocent lives continue to be lost throughout the nation. Let us get the word out the best we can... And save lives.

Apparently I'm Misleading

In a blog post from a few weeks ago (that you can read HERE), I received a comment that laid it on pretty thick. I will post what he/she said, that then respond the best I can. I hope whoever wrote it, reads this.

Mr. Phillips, this article you posted by the Belleville News Democrat is misleading. The unfortunate deaths of these two girls was not the result of a police pursuit. An Illinois State Police Trooper was responding to a motor vehicle crash where there were injuries and people possibly trapped inside their crashed vehicle(s). You have also manipulated the actual story from the paper. I live in the Belleville area and am quite familiar with this tragic event. If you are going to use this article for your cause then please correct it to it's proper content as printed by the Belleville News Democrat. As it is posted on this site now it is wrong and seemingly intentionally misleading to benefit your cause. Now, please don't misinterpret my reply as a negative toward your site. I agree, to an extent, your efforts to maintain smart pursuits but at the same time I also believe if you intentionally manipulated this article you are serving no better of a cause then the reason this site was originally intended. The death of your loved one.

First, I would like to ask how I manipulated the actual story from the paper? I purposely posted only the section of the article concerning me. The reason why is that I don't want to take away from the efforts of Mike Fitzgerald and his newspaper. That is why I linked to the rest of the story, in order to encourage readers to follow it and read the whole story, thus giving credit to the Belleville News Democrat. They would much rather prefer you read their story at their site... Not mine.

Although the incident in question was not a pursuit, Mr. Fitzgerald wanted my opinion as to police vehicular training, an area I am certainly qualified to speak about. I never said a word, in the article, or the blog post in question, about police pursuits.

What Mr. Fitzgerald and I were trying to get to is that police driver training takes a backseat to firearm training, yet instances of vehicular accidents are far more common. Nothing more, nothing less...

I ask Anonymous to please respond and be more specific. Again, at no time did I misrepresent myself, the Belleville News Democrat, Mike Fitzgerald, the incident in question, or the facts of the matter.

Belleville News-Democrat

Here is a story from Sunday's Belleville News Democrat in regards to police driver training.

Firearms training is a big deal for the Illinois State Police.

Which is why state troopers must go to a shooting range every three months to requalify in the use of their handguns.

But the only formal training state troopers receive in the handling of their vehicles, including high-speed pursuits and emergency responses, occurs during their days as Illinois State Police Academy cadets, according to Master Sgt. Brian Ley, a state police spokesman.

Otherwise, their driver's training occurs on their own, during the thousands of miles troopers log each year.

The failure of the state police to ensure more and better driver's education for its troopers is an all-too-familiar story that has resulted in scores of needless deaths each year nationwide, according to John Phillips, executive director of Florida-based PursuitWatch, which promotes safe driving techniques for police.

"The problem here is that in a 25-year career, an officer on average will shoot their gun once," Phillips said. "And in that same time period, 80 percent of their time on the job is spent in their car. Yet when we look at training, it's overwhelmingly in the use of their handgun."

The question of how much training police officers should receive to drive their vehicles safely has been raised following a crash along Interstate 64 near Scott Air Force Base that claimed the lives of two Collinsville sisters -- Jessica Uhl, 18, and Kelli Uhl, 13.

Continued HERE.

This also got picked up in the AP article you can read HERE.

Trrraining Sir!

In my previous post, I said I would do some research as to the amount of training spent on pursuits in comparison to firearms. I found what I expected.

Osceola County Sheriff's Department vehicle training is summarized as follows:

New hires receive 1 hour classroom training on policy, operations, and pursuits.

Each year consists of 8 hours of mostly hands on vehicle operation training.

Every two years, officers go through a 10 hour scenario based pursuit management training program.

As for firearm training: The department is "mandated by FDLE to state qualify 1 time a year." This includes bi-monthly training as well as "advanced handgun, shotgun and patrol rifle classes two times a year."

According to my source at the department, statistics show that in 25 years of service an officer will fire their weapon ONCE. Yet, 80% of that 25 year career is spent behind the wheel of a car... Not with a gun. Officers face the greatest harm behind the steering wheel, a fact that has been lost.