The Oklahoman

Mark this one down as a pursuit that got way out of hand. Last week Oklahoma City Police spotted and pursued a stolen, bright yellow SUV.

During the pursuit the suspect led police off road and through a city park. Children were playing baseball while parents were shocked at the scene playing itself out in front of them. Shortly after the pursuit exited the park a gunfight erupted between the fleeing car and police. At the end, one suspect was shot dead.

OCPD has pledged a review of the chase as it relates to the department's pursuit policy and the Police Chief has offered to meet with the concerned parents.

From the story in The Oklahoman:

John Phillips' sister died in 2001 when her car was hit by a vehicle police were chasing in Florida. Phillips operates a website, pursuitwatch.org, that tracks pursuit statistics and policies.

Phillips said officers have to be trained to recognize that their job isn't always to make an arrest. Sometimes, protecting the public means stopping a chase before it gets too dangerous, and chasing a stolen vehicle through a park where children are playing would obviously fit that category, he said.

“It's fortunate that no one else was hurt,” Phillips said. “If you continue to pursue like this and allow your officers to get in these situations, it's a matter of time before an innocent person is injured or killed.”

Further, the department adopted an updated policy in 2006 after several deadly chases. The change required a supervisor to monitor the chase over the radio and determine if the circumstances were too dangerous to continue. Of course, there are several problems with a policy like this. First, since a majority of pursuit crashes occur within the first 2 minutes of a chase, relying on a supervisor to appropriately judge the conditions in time is very difficult. Next, conditions can often chance so fast that the decision to call off a pursuit might be too late. It is best to have a clear policy that states which crimes warrant a pursuit and not rely so much on conditions and supervisor intervention.

Dayton Daily News

Recently Warren County Sheriff's Sgt. Brian Dulle died during a police pursuit. Police were chasing a 22-year-old who had stolen a car when Sgt. Dulle placed stop-sticks in the path of the fleeing vehicle. The suspect went to the side of the road and struck Dulle at an estimated 100 MPH. Denise Callahan of the Dayton Daily News wrote Pursuits a necessary evil of law enforcement, officials say:

John Phillips’ sister died nine years ago when she got in the middle of a police chase. The Florida man and his family created PursuitWatch.org a website advocating restraint and offering research and other information about high speed police chases.

His family helped rewrite the protocols for police pursuits in Orlando and Orange County, Fla., so chases aren’t initiated unless the suspect is accused of a violent crime, he said.

“Their duty isn’t necessarily to arrest the bad guy, that’s not why they are hired,” Phillips said. “They are hired to protect us. To protect and serve is the motto we always hear. It’s the ability to understand that just because I don’t arrest this guy right now, doesn’t mean I’m not protecting and serving. In fact, I might actually be doing that by not chasing a bad guy.”

PursuitWatch.org exits Dark Ages, joins Twitter

In what should have been done at least a year ago, PursuitWatch.org is now on Twitter.

Follow @PursuitWatch for news, updates, opinions, etc.

As for Facebook, it is recommended you Like PursuitSAFETY's page and join the group.

Two pursuits, 4 innocent lives lost

Tulare County Sheriff's deputies attempted a traffic stop last week. The SUV refused to stop and deputies pursued at high speeds until the suspect stuck a car, killing a mother, father, and their 17 year-old son. From the Visalia Times Delta:

The deputy followed the SUV with lights flashing and sirens blaring, said Sheriff's Lt. Keith Douglass.

Less than two miles away, at the Akers Street intersection at Caldwell, the SUV broadsided a maroon Chevrolet Impala, killing all three occupants, police reported.

[...]

"There was a supervisor and commander monitoring the pursuit the entire time," Douglass said, in response to being asked if the pursuit was safe to continue into Visalia city limits. "It was night and there was minimal traffic."

You can read the entire story HERE. While more charges could be filed, the story identifies a parole violation potentially being the only non-chase related charge.

And in Harlington, Texas, reporter Isaac Garcia has been writing about a pursuit that lead to the death of an innocent woman.

THIS story explains the suspect was under surveillance and police observed him commiting a traffic violation. When he refused to stop, police chased. He had a gun and marijuana in the car. DETAILS are slow to emerge.

HERE Mr. Garcia explains how police have been unwilling to release their vehicular pursuit policy and further details about the chase.

He has continued to cover the story, and has another story regarding policies around the region. A few interesting quotes.

Cameron County Sheriff Omar Lucio said information regarding his department’s pursuit policy is not exactly public information. He said that if he released the full details of the policy, criminals might use the information to evade arrest.

FALSE. A well known policy does not mean more suspects will flee. In the year after the City of Orlando changed their policy 118 suspects fled and 40,342 obeyed the order to stop. This is despite a well known and significantly followed change.

John Phillips, founder of Pursuitwatch.org and an advocate nationwide of safer pursuit policies, said he knows all too well of the dangers in police pursuits. In 2001, Phillips said, his sister was killed in a vehicle when police were pursuing another vehicle.

Phillips said that with the help of his website, he helped rewrite some of the pursuit polices in central Florida.

Phillips said he believes that that many pursuit policies change to be more restrictive only after the death of innocent bystanders.

Mr. Garcia did confuse a few things here. I did not start PursuitWatch.org, my father did. Further, while PursuitWatch.org did help OCSO and OPD rewrite their policy, the organization's efforts were spearheaded by Jim Phillips.

5 injured in Jacksonville, FL pursuit

According to the Florida Times-Union, the Jacksonville PD pursued a driver who refused to pull over for traveling with its headlights off. Stop sticks did now slow the driver, until it ran a red light and struck another vehicle. Two people in that car, including a 7-month-old, were critically injured. The driver of the fleeing car as well as two passengers were seriously hurt.

None of the 5 injured were wearing a seatbelt, including the 7-month-old.

Further, as the Times-Union provides:

Court records show [the fleeing driver] was due to go to trial next week on charges of grand theft auto and driving with a revoked license for being a habitual traffic offender.

You can read further HERE.

While it is important to catch the bad guys, and this guy certainly is given the upcoming charges, was it worth chasing and injuring two innocent citizens to catch this guy? PursuitWatch advocates for safer and smarter pursuits, and unless the fleeing driver is believed to have been involved in a violent crime, we feel it is not worth the risk to the innocent public and law enforcement.

Hartford Advocate

"One High-Speed Chase, Three Police Departments, Two Spike Strips, Six Civilians With Ruined Tires, And One Nonviolent Criminal. What The Hell Happened?" is the title, and the Hartford Advocate is the publisher.

On December 31st the police pursued a driver who fled a traffic stop, and before the events concluded 6 civilians had flat tires. I spoke to Jon Campbell for awhile, and the article is a good read.

John Phillips, president of the advocacy group Pursuit Watch, has been following police pursuits nationwide since 2002, when his sister, a civilian, died during a chase in Florida. She had stopped short to avoid Stop Sticks in the road, and was struck from behind by the fleeing suspect. Phillips echoed Scott’s sentiments about the wisdom of this particular chase.

“It seems like we’re lucky no one was hurt seriously, or, much worse, killed [in the Westport chase]. In hindsight was all of that worth the effort? What we feel is that unless the suspect was thought to have committed a violent crime, then pursuit is not worth the risk to the public or the officers themselves,” says Phillips.

Between 1997 and 2007, the last year for which statistics are available, an average of 354 people were killed annually as a result of police pursuits, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The victims include not only suspects, but also police officers and innocent drivers, which make up about a third of that total. Advocacy groups say the real figures are almost certainly higher than those compiled by NHTSA, because not all departments are required to report pursuit-related fatalities.

You can read the rest HERE.

Random Links

- Cheryl Cooper, mother of Christopher Cooper who was killed when he was struck by a car fleeing police in 2007, has been advocating for better officer training. You can see a rundown of blog posts mentioning Christopher HERE.

- The Roanoke Times published an editorial calling for a review of the Roanoke Police Department's pursuit policy.

Response to Reader Comment

Recently, a reader of the blog responded to a post about a letter to the letter I submitted. Mr. Police Man, who runs a blog with the same name, wrote the following:

I don't mean this rude, as I understand where you are coming from, but why are you not fighting for more strict prosecution and greater sentences for the bad guys instead of going after the good guys trying to catch the bad guys for you?

That is what us on this side of the fense [sic] think. We are the guy running towards the bullets, putting our lives on the line at 10mph or 100mph. When does it ever come to the bad guy and his/her choice?

And let me state for the record that a stop sign, or speeding or broken tail light might not sound like all that important, but I've been doing this for 10 years and when I've been in a pursuit for those violations the suspect turned out to be a wanted murderer, car theft suspect, kidnapper, arson and many others. Do I go tell that family that I didn't chase the guy who just kidnapped their daughter, set her on fire and raped her because I wasn't 100% sure it was him driving the car that rolled through the stop sign? I hope this portrayes my frustrations. Take care and I look forward to more conversations.

Good post. I’d start out by pointing out that I certainly agree that there should be stronger penalties for those who flee the police. In my policy proposal for the Democratic nominee for Florida’s Governor Alex Sink I outlined a proposal to charge those who flee with at least a second degree felony instead of a 3rd degree. Our Mission Statement also argues that "fleeing and eluding should be a felony with mandatory prison time." If a fleeing criminal kills someone else I also argue they should be charged with murder, not manslaughter. After all, when you flee at dangerous speeds you know there is a very good chance you could hurt someone else.

We don't condone these poor decisions by who are usually young, dumb, males. However, we do believe that police should not compound bad decisions by criminals with risky behavior of their own. Of course this isn't saying that law enforcement doesn't have the best intentions. It just seems that sometimes law enforcement forgets that their job isn't to always catch the bad guys; rather it is to keep the public safe.

Next, you are right, a broken taillight might not sound like much but the suspect might be up to something much more serious. After all, when Ted Bundy was first arrested, he was pulled over for an invalid U-turn. He fled, police pursued and eventually arrested him. Unfortunately this in anecdotal evidence. Empirical evidence shows the most common crime committed, and assumed the reason for fleeing police, is that the car is stolen.

We simply believe that unless an occupant of the stolen vehicle has been suspected to have taken part in a violent crime that the dangers of pursuing for police officers and the innocent public do not make it worth it.

TheCopDoc Radio Show

Last week I had the pleasure of appearing on Dr. Weinblatt's TheCopDoc radio show.

You can learn more about Dr. Weinblatt at his website, HERE.

Joining me on the program was Captain Travis Yates of the Tulsa PD. He is also founder of PoliceDriving.com.

The hour long show covered many topics dealing with police pursuits; from training to technology. You can listen to the entire hour HERE.

Letter to the Editor

Below is a letter I sent to the editor of the Richmond Times Dispatch.

Re: In police pursuits, speed really can kill

Simply stated, the Henrico County Police Department must rethink their vehicular pursuit policy. First, it is simply not worth the risk to the officers and the public to pursue anyone who has not been suspected of committing a violent crime. We can run a license plate instantly, put a helicopter in the air in many cases, and radio to other officers in the area; all forms of technology that proves just because the initial officer does not chase does not mean the suspect will get away.

Next, police should not be concerned in making their policy public. Contrary to their argument, there is not some segment of the population waiting to hear what the policy is, and then refusing to pull over when asked now that they know they will get away. People either listen to the police, or they don’t. A vast majority of the time, those who flee are simply dumb young criminals who don’t want to go to jail, not vicious murderers. Just as important, a transparent policy can allow the department and the public to accurately evaluate if a pursuit should have occurred, and whether it was properly handled.

Unfortunately, it appears as if the Henrico County Police Department is not learning from the unnecessary death of Apostle Taylor, and it is just a matter of time before another innocent person is killed because law enforcement compounds the poor decisions of a young criminal with their own.

John Phillips

President/Director
PursuitWatch.org
Orlando, FL
321-228-9783