Indianapolis may join the growing list of cities with restrictive police pursuit policies:
The chase that ended in the deaths Tuesday of two suspected car thieves would have been banned under a new pursuit policy under review by the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.
Chief Paul Ciesielski said Wednesday that the new policy would allow officers to chase only violent suspects who are an immediate threat. Currently, police can pursue any motorist who flees, regardless of what they did.
Critics of chases say they put police officers, offenders and innocent bystanders at risk.
"The advantages of a new policy would be that it takes into account the safety of our officers and meets our moral and ethical obligation to keep citizens safe," Ciesielski said.
Ciesielski, who favors the new policy, said there is no time frame for deciding whether to adopt it.
Not sure about the "only violent suspects who are an immediate threat." That may be too narrow a criterion to decide in the heat of the moment. But a lot of departments, including Fort Wayne's, have very specific policies that try to maximize public safety while still allowing police to do their jobs. Some require a command officer to be on the radio during chases, ready to call them off if conditions seem to warrant it. That's a good way to make sure the guidelines aren't ignored by police hot on the trail.
These new restrictions aren't coming about just because the police have suddenly mellowed in Indiana. The state Supreme Court ruled in 2006 that bystanders injured in high-speed chases can sue police for damages and need only show that police were negligent.
A 2005 analysis of chases by The Indianapolis Star, referenced in the linked story, found that 86 people died in chases in Indiana from 1993 through 2003. It also found that about three-quarters of 947 chases in 2003 and 2005 were prompted by traffic violations or "suspicious" vehicles or occupants. And according to a 2001 FBI bulletin, as many as 40 percent of all pursuits end in collisions, resulting in nearly 300 deaths each year of police officers, suspects or innocent third parties.
I don't want to make it too difficult for police to do their jobs. I also don't want to be killed by one who is being too pursuit happy, or by the clown he is pursuing.
