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 Again

In another article concerning the Illinois State Police, Mike Fitzgerald of the Belleville News-Democrat asks: "Can the Illinois State Police properly investigate itself?"

I had a small quote in his article, but it got the point across:

John Phillips, executive director of PursuitWatch, which promotes safer police driving, said the state police must show whenever possible that their investigation is as transparent as possible.

"They need to be willing to open up when asked," Phillips said. "They need to say, 'Absolutely, here's what we know.'"

You can read the rest of the article HERE

One they didn't publish

I sent this letter to the News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) concerning a pursuit by the Franklinton PD that killed two young sisters.

Subject: Unnecessary Tragedy

In the wake of Saturday’s police chase that ended in the death of two young sisters, the Franklinton Police Department must develop a progressive, well defined policy that only pursues those suspected of committing a violent crime. Simply stated, the pursuit of someone who was observed driving dangerously should have never occurred. Was the need to apprehend this man so important that it was worth the risk to both the officer and the innocent public? No.

Currently, according to reports, the Franklinton PD allows a pursuit if a felony has occurred. In this case the felony that justified the pursuit was the suspect’s refusal to pull over. If this is their justification, then what is the purpose of having a policy at all? This way they can pursue someone who has a broken taillight or littered.

A policy that only allows a pursuit if one is suspected of a violent crime such as rape or murder properly weights the safety of the public with the need to catch the bad guys. Law enforcement must understand that a smart policy does not hinder their ability to do their job. Technologies such as helicopters, radios, video cameras, GPS, and the everyday computer ensures us that just because the pursuing officer loses sight of the suspects does not mean they will get away.

Often, police forget that their job is not to arrest people but to keep their community safe. Did they do it in this case? No.

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.

Some thoughts on this Monday morning...

I ran across some interesting thoughts this morning while over at KristiesLaw.org by retired police chief Van Blaricom. I quote:

If, for instance, officers were not held accountable for compliance with deadly force policies, does anyone doubt that we would have many more bad shootings? The fact is that police pursuits seriously injure and kill far more innocent third parties than are ever going to be placed at the risk of a police shooting. Why is that permitted? Officers are strictly prohibited from firing into a crowd, but they are routinely given the latitude to pursue a stolen car through urban streets against traffic control devices until a collision terminates the chase.

This has happened over and over again throughout the United States and will continue to occur until chief policymakers assert effective administrative control over when and how vehicular pursuits are to be conducted. Can there be any question that this is a critical public safety issue demanding attention?

It seems like one of the reasons so many restrictions are placed on the use of firearms is because it is viewed as not necessary to take that steps to catch the bad guy. In other words, shooting into a crowded room isn't worth it because, hell, if you are close enough to shoot him you can bring it to a safer end.

For some reason, when it comes to vehicle pursuits, people seem to think it is over if police do not chase suspects. I'll say it again: Just because the suspect escapes the view of the patrol car does not mean he wins. Technology such as the two way radio, helicopters, video equipment, the ability to run license plates, etc. ensure the chase is not over...

Two Palm Beach Sheriff's Officers die during pursuit of stolen car

Two Palm Beach Sheriff's Officers have died following the pursuit of two men who were suspected of stealing a car.

Early Wednesday morning, police received a call from a resident saying their neighbors car was being broken into. Police responded and noticed the stolen car traveling down Route 715. After refusing to stop, a sergeant authorized the pursuit.

Two deputies, Donta Manuel and Johnathan Wallace placed stop sticks in the direction of the chase and were successful. However, when the two officers were removing the stop sticks shortly after, they were struck and killed by one of the sheriff's pursuing vehicles.

More to come as this tragedy unfolds.

Source: Orlando Sentinel

Update: 3:30 PM 11/28/07

One of the suspects is in custody. Police are still searching for a second.

Officer Manual

Officer Wallace

Still Developing...

Source: Palm Beach Post

Update: 11:30 AM 12/03/07

Details are starting to surface concerning last weeks accident in Palm Beach county. The following comes from a South Florida Sun Sentinel Article. You can read it in full HERE.

Palm Beach County Sheriff's Deputies Donta Manuel and Jonathan Wallace threw tire-deflation devices into the path of a fleeing stolen car but left a key component in the trunk, Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said Thursday.

If the retrieval lanyards had been attached to the Stop Sticks, Bradshaw said, the deputies simply could have yanked the devices off State Road 715 south of Pahokee. Instead, they darted onto the highway to get them early Wednesday and were hit and killed by another deputy's cruiser.

"That decision turned out to be a fatal mistake," Bradshaw said after outlining his agency's policies on the use of Stop Sticks and police pursuits.

Police are still searching for the passenger in the fleeing vehicle.

**For those who watched Fox News this evening**

First, I would like to thank you for visiting the site. Please leave your thoughts under this blog post or send me an email at jharrissphillips@gmail.com. It is through thoughtful discourse that we can truly find a solution. Many Thanks.

You can view a video of the story HERE.

You can also read an article concerning StarChase with quotes from Dr. Geoff Alpert HERE.

Please continue to use the valuable resources available here at PursuitWatch.org

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.