Belleview News-Democrat

I was asked to comment for a article in yesterday's Belleview News-Democrat concerning the use of video equipment in police cars. Illinois State Police have required troopers to activate their dashboard cameras whenever they turn on their emergency lights. If they fail to do so, they face punishment.

You can read the story HERE.

John Phillips, executive director of Florida-based PursuitWatch, which promotes safer police driving, said law enforcement agencies should post clear policies that limit high-speed chases and responses to violent crimes.

That policy must also be backed up by proper driver training and oversight, Phillips said.

Last year in Illinois, for instance, seven people died because of police pursuits: five were occupants of the chased vehicles, while two were occupants of other vehicles. None was a police-car occupant, according to administration figures.

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).

Just what happened in Panama City Beach?

A suspect still remains at large after a pursuit of a suspected drunk driver ended in a deadly rear-end collision, according to the Panama City News Herald.

Two of the victims sons arrived on the scene of the crash shortly after and some sort of confrontation ensued. The sons claimed a plain clothes man claiming to be a police officer, despite being told they were family members of the deceased, inappropriately assaulted the brothers and violently forced them to the ground and handcuffed them. Officers say the sons refused to identify themselves and were thus during their job in keeping the crime scene clear of outsiders.

According to the News Herald article:

[Cmdr. Michael] Moring wrote that he identified himself as a police officer and asked them who they were, but the brothers told him their identities were none of his business. Moring said he told them to identify themselves and then “physically stopped one of the unknown white males from entering the crime scene.” The second male “drew his right arm back with a balled fist as if he were about to strike me.”

A physical altercation ensued and the men, Jeff and Terry Lenz, were taken to the ground and handcuffed.

The other three officers offered similar accounts of the incident.

Watch the sons account of events:




What really took place will probably never be absolutely known. This problem just goes to show the effects of poor policy and decision making by law enforcement. A pursuit of a suspected drunk driver should never ensue, and difficult decisions soaked in tense emotions should never have to be made.

One thing is for sure, Paul Lenz in dead.

Palm Beach Post and Washington Post

Interesting article from this weekends Palm Beach Post:

In the hours following the fatal Pahokee crash, Sheriff Ric Bradshaw supported the decision to follow a stolen 1990 Toyota, saying the conditions were right. The suspect and deputies wound through the Glades in the early morning hours of Nov. 28, with no bystanders at risk.

Bradshaw noted the link between violent crime and car theft. Plus, this pursuit technically wasn't a chase, he said, given deputy Greg Fernandez's speed of 55 mph moments before crashing into his two co-workers.

Yet former Sheriff Ed Bieluch says that number is way off. At least three people close to the investigation put the impact speed at 110 to 112 mph, said Bieluch, who is considering another bid for the office. The traffic investigation remains open, and officials have not released any findings.

Bradshaw: How can this not be a chase!?! Was does "technically" mean? Does technically really matter when you have two of your officers who are now dead?

Four of every 10 pursuits end in crashes, and two of every 10 end in injuries, according to research noted on the Web site pursuitwatch.org.

A 1997 study by criminology expert Geoffrey Alpert published in the National Institute of Justice's Research In Brief found that nearly half of police agencies nationwide had modified their pursuit policies during the previous two years - and that 87 percent made their guidelines more restrictive.

Continue HERE.

Also, the Officer who was involved in a deadly pileup on the Capital Beltway last May has been indicted on two counts of vehicular manslaughter. I appeared on Countdown with Keith Olberman and the Washington Post in response to this incident. You can read a transcript of the Countdown interview HERE.

The incident began about 7 p.m. May 30, when Campbell, a seven-year veteran of the department on routine patrol, began chasing a speeding motorcycle near the Richie-Marlboro exit on the Beltway's outer loop.

Campbell's police cruiser slammed into McCarter and Clanton's sport-utility vehicle. The SUV flew over the guardrail and into traffic on the Beltway's inner loop, causing a series of crashes that closed down all lanes for almost five hours.

Continue HERE.

Billings Gazette Comments

Last week I wrote a post about the comments of Billings PD Training Officer Kathy Carson (You can catch up HERE). The Billings Gazette wrote a story about the situation (That you can read HERE).

There have been an interesting mix of responses. Some have noted the importance of ones choice of words, others have ripped me as someone just looking for press. In order to help clarify the situation, I will explain what happened from my end.

I came across the initial story and the accompanying video and was very concerned with Officer Carson's comment. I emailed her expressing my concern and my reasons why. I CC'd Chief St. John, the Billings Gazette, and the TV station that ran the story.

I got a response back from Officer Carson and below is it in its entirety:

I am sorry for your loss. I wish you could have heard the whole interview, unfortunately it was edited.

That's all. First, I asked her to apologize for her comment, not for my loss. I also asked for some sort of assurance that that is not the way she goes about her job. Apparently that is too much to ask.

Shortly after I got an email from Cheif St. John explaining that their department takes pursuits very seriously and thanking me for my concern. Basically, it was an A+ job by him.

I let the issue go and moved on thanks to the Chief's response.

A few days later a got a call from the Billings Gazette. The reporter asked if the situation had been solved. I told him it has, due to the Chief's email, not that of Officer Carson's one line response. He then told me that he did some research and found out she was involved in a pursuit with a fatality in '03. That opened it up again for me. Thus, I sent another email to Officer Carson telling her that I was not satisfied with her first response, and that the news that she was involved in a pursuit with a fatality bothered me even more.

She has yet to respond...

That is exactly what happened.

Long story short, none of this would have happened had Officer Carson taken my concerns seriously.

By the way, she has still yet to respond...

A few articles to read...

The last week has been very busy here at PursuitWatch so I haven't had the time to post as much as I would like. So before I get all the news on here, check out these two articles:

Billings Gazette article concerning the comments of Officer Kathy Carson HERE

Florida Today article about the use of helicopters in police pursuits HERE

Letter to the Sacramento Bee

On Monday afternoon, a vehicle being pursued by the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department crashed violently into a car carrying a family of four in Rancho Cordova. Two children were transported to UC Davis Medical Center, while their parents were taken separately to the Mercy San Juan Medical Center, over 15 miles away. According to the Sherriff’s department, the vehicle being pursued was being chased for merely failing to yield. Although the driver of the vehicle opting to flee police custody bears the brunt of the responsibility, some of the blame for this terrible accident should be directed toward Sacramento County’s vague police pursuit policy.

Sacramento County’s current police policy allows for pursuit in almost any circumstance, stating that a pursuit is authorized when “a suspect exhibits the intention of evading arrest by using a vehicle to flee or when a suspected law violator refuses to stop.” The policy also stipulates that certain factors must be considered when determining whether any pursuit should be initiated, continued or terminated, though these factors are not well-defined. A pursuing officer and his supervisors must weigh “the seriousness of the originating crime and its relationship to community safety,” as well as factors such as location of pursuit, weather conditions, volume of traffic, and time of day.

A poorly-defined policy puts entirely too much pressure on the decision making ability of the pursuing officer and their supervisors. A police officer cannot and should not be expected to make a life or death decision on the basis of such vague legalese. The current policy is such that if an officer makes the wrong decision, and innocent people are injured or killed, the county and the officer could face endless litigation. That is not fair to our already overburdened law enforcement agencies.

The current pursuit policy further overburdens law enforcement officers by stating that “[i]t is the duty of the driver of an authorized emergency vehicle to exercise that amount of care which, under all circumstances, would not pose an unreasonable risk to others.” It continues, noting that “[t[he immediate apprehension of the violator is no more important than the safety of innocent persons or the officer(s) involved. When it becomes apparent that the immediate apprehension is outweighed by an unreasonable danger to the officer or others, the pursuit must be terminated.”

In the case of the vehicle pursuit in Rancho Cordova, the pursuing officer and his supervisors decided that the seriousness of the suspect’s crime, failure to yield, outweighed the risk involved in pursuing the suspect down a busy street in the middle of the day. Hindsight lets us see that the safest option would have been to, record the license plate number, of the fleeing vehicle, if possible, and terminate the chase. This rational response would have helped to avoid a serious accident involving an innocent family. Unfortunately, the officers involved in the pursuit didn’t have the luxury of hindsight, and were forced to make a split-second decision most likely under the influence of a great amount of adrenaline.

We at PursuitWatch.org believe that the Sacramento County Sherriff’s office must develop a progressive, well-defined policy that allows only for the active pursuit of those suspected of committing a violent crime. A properly-defined policy would take the burden of split-second decision making off of our police officers, and would result in a safer community. In Orlando, Florida, the adoption of such a policy has proven to be extremely successful. At some point, law enforcement agencies must decide whether it is more important to make an arrest, or to keep the community safe. If a well-defined pursuit policy was in place on Monday afternoon in Rancho Cordova, then an innocent family would not have been needlessly injured.

John T. Fox

Vice President
PursuitWatch.org
Orlando, FL

Billings PD's Kathy Carson: "Pursuits are always fun!"

I came across an interesting article from Montana's News Station regarding recruiting police officers. You can read it HERE. Basically, it notes the shortage of police recruits and the techniques used to recruit. Shiny badges, cars, motorcycles. Dogs, guns, driving fast. Making it seem like police work is a video game. Apparently this is how you recruit police officers these days. Sure, as it is with every job, the employer must make its pitch, but what infuriated me was the following comment by Billings PD's training officer Kathy Carson:

"Pursuits are always fun! Although they're dangerous, they're very exciting."

Completely irresponsible. It is this sort of mentality and approach to police work that kills. I'd like to ask Kathy this:

Was it always fun when two Palm Beach officers were killed during a police chase when they were run over by one of the pursuing officers?

Was it always fun when an innocent 17-year-old Chris Cooper was killed while riding his bike?

Was it always fun when 404 people were killed in 2006 as a result of police pursuits? Or how about 2005, when 359 people were killed? That must have been fun.

Was it always fun when an innocent 22-year-old Steven Cornell was killed in Tampa?

There are countless officers who understand their duty and with honor and valor patrol the streets putting their life at risk to save lives. I can only hope that these poor recruiting methods don't put the wrong ideas into our law enforcement officers heads.

Introducting a new Vice President

PursuitWatch.org is pleased to announce a new Vice President. John Fox, a graduate of the University of Florida, brings his background in the political process, media relations, the policy implementation process, and passion for the issues to the PursuitWatch.org team. Aside from advocating safer and smarter police pursuits, Mr. Fox will also be a regular contributor to this blog. He specializes in editorial writing, and will help the cause by campaigning in those cities and towns that need it the most. You can contact him directly at john.timothy.fox@gmail.com, or by phone at 321-277-5115.

Sacramento: 5 hurt in police chase

A vehicle being pursued by police for failure to yield crashed violently into a car carrying a family of four Monday afternoon in Sacramento, California. Two children were transported to UC Davis Medical Center, while their parents were taken to the Mercy San Juan Medical Center, over 15 miles away. According to the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department, none of the injuries were critical, though at first glance the accident seems to be the result of a hastily-considered police pursuit. If ‘failure to yield’ was indeed the only reason for the pursuit of a vehicle on a busy Sacramento street in the middle of the afternoon, than the police department was acting in a negligent manner. We at PursuitWatch.org are concerned over this apparent lack of judgment by the Sacramento Sherriff’s Department, and will be following the story as it develops.

Read more HERE.

Written by PursuitWatch.org's John Fox