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.

Whittier Daily News

From the Whittier Daily News in Whittier California:

Watchdog groups, such as pursuitwatch.org, cite studies that show the danger of chases.

"Research shows that approximately 40 percent of all pursuits result in a crash, 20 percent result in an injury and 1 percent result in a death," said Geoffrey Alpert, a professor of criminal justice at the University of South Carolina, during an interview with pursuitwatch.org.

Many cities do not allow police chases for car theft, according to pursuitwatch.org.

You can read the rest of the article HERE.

It's been a busy few weeks for pursuit deaths across America.

A busy few days

For some reason, this last week seemed to be extremely deadly. There was the death of an innocent victim in Baldwin Park, California. In that case, the police were chasing a car thief. I argued against that chase HERE. The same newspaper published an editorial arguing for an progressive police policy.

Next, police pursued a man who was thought to be involved in a "possible disturbance" ended in his death. The Monitor in South Texas covered the story:

John Phillips heads PursuitWatch.org, a website that highlights the negative consequences of police pursuits for non-violent offenses. The website was created after Phillips’ 20-year-old sister was killed as a bystander to a police pursuit in 2001.

Despite the light traffic conditions before dawn Wednesday, officers should have broken off their pursuit of Saldivar, said Phillips.

“Law enforcement has to go on what they know, and in this case the guy was just causing a disturbance,” Phillips said. “It wasn’t worth the pursuit.”

[...]

Phillips points to written pursuit policies as a way for officers and their supervisors to know how to decide during the heat of the moment — and to know “law enforcement is properly doing their job.”

[...]

Phillips disputes the notion that the responsibility rests with the person who is fleeing.

“Let’s say he was drunk,” he said. “Chasing someone because they’re drunk only compounds bad decisions. He’s already made that decision. Let’s not compound that decision and make it even worse.”

You can read the entire story HERE.

Next, in what seems like it's straight out of Hollywood, police took part in a wild chase and sequence of events in Yakima, Washington. Police started to pursue a suspected car thief until they thought they had the situation under control a few blocks later. However, the suspect jumped a fence, broke into and stole another car, driving out of the lot and nearly running over several of the officers who had exited their cars to find the suspect. A long pursuit ensued, and it ended when the suspect crashed, killing two innocent victims. From the Yakima Herald-Republic:

John Phillips, director of the Orlando-based safe-pursuit advocacy group PursuitWatch, called judging Sunday's chase in Yakima "tricky" but said he was troubled by the duration of it.

"Seven minutes, that's too long," he said. "There's just so many opportunities for something to go wrong."

Phillips, whose 20-year-old sister was an innocent victim of a 2001 police chase, noted that more than 300 people a year are killed in police pursuits, according to statistics kept since 1982 by the Federal Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Of that number, roughly a third -- an average of 121 people since 1994 -- were innocent bystanders. They were either in a different vehicle or on foot or bike.

"My group isn't saying no pursuits at all, because there are times they are needed, and we want to see penalties increased for fleeing," he said.

"But pursuits shouldn't start out for minor felonies. It's like essentially shooting a gun into a crowded room."

But Merryman insisted that the incident at the used-car lot was not a minor felony. In addition to being charged Wednesday with two counts of first-degree murder, Kollman was also charged with two counts of first-degree assault for allegedly trying to run down officers during the escape.

"He's got the mindset of a cop killer," he said. "When do we let him go?"

It is important to note that the last point by Mr. Merryman justifies a pursuit for reasons that occurred after the pursuit was already initiated. If police didn't pursue the suspect from the start, the crazy events at the car lot wouldn't have happened. You can read the entire story HERE.

San Gabriel Valley Tribune

UPDATE: The online version was changed. No word on a retraction for the print version, which I am assuming has the incorrect quote. Here is the correct quote:

"Unless the suspect has shown they don't care about human life, it's not worth it," said Phillips, whose sister was killed during a police chase in Florida.

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Yesterday evening I did a short interview for a story out of the San Gabriel Valley Tribune in California. A man had stole a car, fled police and shortly after crashed into another vehicle. The innocent driver was killed.

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Unfortunately, I was misquoted.

Under what he called "progressive" guidelines, most departments wouldn't chase a car thief, especially if that person was driving recklessly, he said.

"If the suspect has shown they don't care about human life, it's not worth it," said Phillips, whose sister was killed during a police chase in Florida.

What the quote should say:

"UNLESS the suspect has shown they don't care about human life, it's not worth it."

The quote that ran in the story doesn't make sense. What PursuitWatch.org advocates is only pursuing those who have displayed they pose such harm to human life that we need to do whatever it possible to catch them ASAP.

You can read the rest of the article HERE.

KC Star: "Limit police chases and save lives now"

I've often referred to the case of Christopher Cooper, the 17-year-old who was riding his bike when he was struck and killed by a man fleeing police. Barb Shelly tacked the pursuit, and the issue of Independence, Missouri, recently in the Kansas City Star:

People are killed as a result of police pursuits that have absolutely nothing to do with them.

Most times the incident that prompted the chase turns out to be much less of a threat to public safety than the pursuit.

Any other activity that routinely and violently claims the lives of innocent people would be scrutinized and restricted, if not outlawed altogether.

That’s not the case with deadly police pursuits. Lawmakers are loath to interfere with a police officer’s right to get criminals off the streets, even though most pursuits begin with traffic violations and the person who flees is rarely wanted for a violent activity.

Further, the story notes that the Independence PD, who were chasing the fleeing man, initiated 126 chases last year. In contract, nearby Kansas City, which has a significantly larger territory and force, only took part in 105 chases.

You can read the entire column HERE.

Details emerge as fleeing murder suspect kills two in Orlando

According to police, Jose Antonio Maisonet-Maldonado stabbed his girlfriend and ran her over with his car. After police tracked him down, he fled. It is not quite clear how things progressed from there, but we know it ended in downtown Orlando when Maisonet-Maldonado, going 100 mph, stuck a car at a traffic signal, killing two. According to the Orlando Sentinel, he has a long list of priors.

Again, it isn't quite clear what happend from when the OCSO learned spotted Maisonet-Maldonado's and the deadly crash. Again, from the Sentinel:

Deputies later spotted the white BMW at University Boulevard and Goldenrod Road. They attempted to stop the vehicle, but Maisonet-Maldonado did not stop. Deputies said they followed him for "several minutes at normal speeds," but lost sight of the vehicle in downtown Orlando.

Orlando police said that while Sheriff's Office deputies pursued his car, a caller had reported that Alvelo's mother had received a call from Maisonet-Maldonado stating he had killed her daughter.

Shortly after deputies lost track of the BMW, it crashed into two cars that were stopped at a red light under Interstate 4 on Colonial Drive, police records show.

Under the OCSO's pursuit policy, this certainly warrants a pursuit.

Many of the charges are still pending, but Maisonet-Maldonado should NOT face vehicular homicide charges for killing the two victims in the crash. He should be charged with at least 2nd degree murder for killing Amanda Taylor and Francesca Jeffery. This is not a homicide, this is murder. Even if you are not fleeing police, if you are going 100 mph through that intersection (I happen to live 5 minutes away from the crash scene and travel through frequently), you have to know the chance that you kill someone is significant.

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.

Thursday updates

First, I did an interview recently with a reporter from USA Today about police pursuits, more specifically the change in Milwaukee. I have written about the change before, and you can read that HERE and HERE. It looks like the reporter is putting together quite an extensive article, and let's hope it runs soon.

I ran across an interesting story out of St. Louis. According to the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, two SLPD officers who died in recent traffic accidents related to police pursuits were not wearing their seat belts. The Globe-Democrat noted that some officers are against wearing their seat belts because it can impede them from getting out of a patrol car quickly. It's pretty easy to disagree with that line of reasoning.

The death of the officers aside, the article was valid to include the financial considerations involved here. According to the Globe-Democrat, worker's compensation payouts are 25 percent higher when a seat belt is not worn. That is a lot. The same can be said for payouts to officer's families.

Again, the loss of life here is by far the most important consideration, but given the budgetary woes departments around the nation face today, you must also consider the financial implications of policy.

Milwaukee Policy Change, Virginia Legislation, and the BBC

First, here is my editorial regarding the change of Milwaukee's policy:

Several weeks ago the Milwaukee Police Department changed its pursuit policy to where officers can only pursue if they have probable cause that a violent felony has occurred. This is a progressive step for the department.

In late 2001, my then 20-year-old sister Sarah was on her way home from the movies when she was hit and killed by a man fleeing police. Like the four victims in Milwaukee since December 31st, Sarah’s case shows just how serious the decision to pursue must be taken.

Detractors argue that this will allow the bad guys to run wild on city streets. I could not disagree more. There is not a significant portion of the population on the fence waiting to hear what the policy is. People either listen to the police when asked to pull over, or they don’t. Those who don’t are usually young, stupid, and just don’t want to go to jail. Those who disagree with the policy change also need to understand that just because the initial officer loses sight of the suspect does not mean they will get away. Modern technology allows us to run a license plate in seconds, put a helicopter in the air, or simply radio other officers in the area.

As a friend and former police officer once told me, “Sometimes police forget that their job is not to catch the bad guy, but rather it is to protect the public.” Given this policy change, the Milwaukee Police Department understands this.

This has been submitted to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Next, a Delegate in Virginia is proposing "legislation to study the introduction of statewide guidelines for high-speed chases, a proposal that was prompted by the recent death of a Richmond pastor who was killed by a vehicle fleeing Henrico County police."

You can read the article HERE. It is very early in the process, but this looks like a step in the right direction.

Finally, I ran across a BBC story from late 2007 in which I am quoted. Check that out HERE.

Milwaukee PD makes a change

Several weeks ago, the Milwaukee Police Department announced changes to their department's policy. Under the new guidelines, officers must have probable cause that a violent felony has occurred, rather than just reasonable suspicion.

This represents a step in the right direction for Milwaukee. The change comes following the deaths of 4 people since December 31st.

Per usual, there were plenty of detractors. From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, union leader Bob Donovan had this to say:

So now, if a burglary suspect or drug dealer jumps in a vehicle and refuses to stop for a patrol car, he'll be able to take off and get away because the crime was not a violent felony.

I'll start by pointing out that just because officers do not pursue a suspect DOES NOT mean they will get away. We can run a license plate, put a helicopter in the air, notify surrounding units, etc. Just because the suspect gets out of the sight of the initial officer does not mean the fight has been lost.

You can read the rest of the JS article HERE.

Yesterday the Journal Sentinel followed up with an editorial supporting the change. You can read that HERE.

I have submitted an editorial to the paper supporting the change. Check back for developments.