Austin, TX police adopting new foot-chase policy

[x635 4,066]

Interesting article.

Austin police adopting new foot-chase policy

Lack of procedure fueled debate in shooting of man by sergeant last year.

By Tony Plohetski

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Austin police officers must evaluate immediate danger, consider whether a suspect is known and can be arrested later, and ask themselves "what would be gained from pursuing the suspect" before beginning often-dangerous foot chases, according to a new department policy that takes effect this month.

FULL STORY: http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news...15pursuits.html

[Guest paramedico987]

Ya know... there used to be a time [the old west perhaps] when the only warning you got was "Stop. Police." Now they're asking LEOs to consider the SAFETY of a fleeing suspect, like you've got time to conjure up all kinds of scenarios in your head. Although, I do agree that some sort of policy/procedure should exist to establish uniform operations for the safety of the responding officers.

Edited October 19, 2008 by paramedico987

[SageVigiles 1,194]

And people wonder why cops are pissed off and don't trust the media, courts or government, because they put pressure to do stupid crap like this.

[x635 4,066]

Considering the amount of officers that get hurt during foot pursuits, not to metion the potential, I think this is a good idea. Especially with all the technology that's coming on the market today.

[nycemt728 49]

Glad that its worded "consider" as opposed to "must" end the chase. This is more applicable for vehicular pursuits...I figure the moment that someone else gets hurt or effected by the person that was not apprehended by a chase that was ended early, this policy will come under review again...

[Just a guy 493]

This is another one of those CYA policies that has been thought up by a boss that is out of touch with the street... There is no time to think about if you can ID the perp later.. why so some geeky ADA can tell you that your ID is no good and you have no case ??

[helicopper 1,050]

This is not the first department to alter foot pursuit policies. Many agencies have adopted policies that specifically direct officers to stop the "pursuit" upon losing sight of the suspect and immediately go to containment and establishing a perimeter.

Once you lose sight of the suspect (i.e. he runs between two buildings and when you come out on the other side, he's gone) the odds of being successful without a perimeter drop exponentially.

Go to containment, establish a good perimeter, call a dog (and a helicopter) and you'll very likely apprehend your suspect.

Lessons learned from many more progressive parts of the country!

[Just a guy 493]

the FBI has done studies that say when you lose sight of a perp they are no more than 15 feet from the place you last saw them. Of course this isn't an exact science but it has proven true many times throughout my career