CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago police officers will no longer be allowed to chase people on foot simply because they run away or give chase over minor offenses, the department said Tuesday, more than a year after two foot pursuits ended with officers fatally shooting a 13-year-old boy and 22-year-old man.

The new policy adheres closely to a draft policy put in place after those shootings and gives the department something it has never had: permanent rules about when officers can and can’t engage in an activity that can endanger themselves, those they’re chasing and bystanders.

“The safety of our community members and our officers remain at the core of this new foot pursuit policy,” Superintendent David Brown said in a statement announcing the policy, which will be implemented by the end of the summer. “We collaborated internally with our officers and externally with our residents to develop a policy we all have a stake in.”

Under the policy, officers may give chase if they believe a person is committing or about to commit a felony, a Class A misdemeanor such as domestic battery, or a serious traffic offense such as drunken driving and street racing that could risk injuring others.

Officers won’t be allowed to chase people on foot if they suspect them of minor offenses such as parking violations, driving on suspended licenses or drinking alcohol in public. But they will still have discretion to people who they’ve determined are committing or about to commit crimes that post “an obvious threat to any person.”

Perhaps most significantly, the policy makes clear that the days of officers giving chase just because someone tries to avoid them are over.

“People may avoid contact with a member for many reasons other than involvement in criminal activity,” the policy states.

The names of 13-year-old Adam Toledo and 22-year-old Anthony Alvarez, who were armed when they ran from police in separate March 2021 pursuits, are not mentioned in the news release announcing the policy or the policy itself. But those pursuits — particularly that of Alvarez — cast a shadow over the policy.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot demanded that the department create an interim policy after the shootings and the county’s top prosecutor harshly criticized police about the Alvarez pursuit. It also appears that the police department took pains to prohibit just that kind of foot chase.

Under the policy, the chase of Alvarez would apparently not have been allowed for two key reasons. First, when police chased him for a traffic violation they knew who he was and where he lived, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx told reporters in March when she announced that the officers involved in the two shootings wouldn’t be charged. Second, officers are no longer allowed to chase on foot people who are suspected of the kind of minor offense that led to the chase.

The policy includes a number of circumstances in which an officer must call off a chase, including a requirement that the pursuit must end if a third party is injured and needs immediate medical attention that can’t be provided by anyone else. If officers realize they do not know exactly where they are, which is possible in a chaotic situation in which they are running through alleys and between houses, they must stop. And if they find themselves unable to communicate with other officers, whether because they drop their radios or for another reason, they must stop.

The policy also makes a point of reminding officers that they or their supervisors will not be criticized or disciplined for deciding against a foot pursuit or calling one off.

Officers are also prohibited from provoking chases, such as by employing a tactic in which they speed in their squad cars toward a group of people, stop suddenly and jump out “with the intention of stopping anyone in the group who flees.”

The city has been waiting for a policy since long before the shootings of Toledo and Alvarez.

Five years ago, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a scathing report saying that too many police chases in the city were unnecessary or ended with officers shooting people they did not have to shoot. And three years ago, a judge signed off on a consent decree that included a requirement to adopt a foot pursuit policy.

The city also had plenty of evidence about the dangers of foot pursuits, including a Chicago Tribune investigation that found that a third of the city’s police shootings from 2010 through 2015 involved someone being wounded or killed during a foot pursuit.

Police officials have denied any suggestion they have been dragging their feet, pointing out that the department has met the established deadlines.

But Chicago has not taken the lead on the issue, with other major cities such as Baltimore, Philadelphia and Portland, Oregon, already having implemented foot pursuit policies.

I read this more than once and find it difficult and confusing. Some parts brought a chuckle such as using your cruiser to provoke a chase.

LINK https://wgntv.com/news/chicago...foot-pursuit-policy/

Comes in at the end of Summer because they KNOW it won't work. I predict eminent failure and skyrocketing petty crime.

Dang.

They can't chase down drunks in the street? (closes window and puts popcorn back in cabinet).

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
Officers are also prohibited from provoking chases, such as by employing a tactic in which they speed in their squad cars toward a group of people, stop suddenly and jump out “with the intention of stopping anyone in the group who flees.”

Officer: Why did you run?
Dindu Nuffin: Because you were chasing me.

Dindu Nuffin: Why were you chasing me?
Officer: Because you ran.

Driving with a suspended license is a minor offense? Ok! All those folks I jailed for it must be really pissed now!

Just when you think it can't possibly get anymore fucked up around here!

Let the city reap the whirlwind. Until the law abiding citizens of every stripe demand change, this will spiral out of control more with each passing day until it all but impossible to put the genie back in the bottle.

quote:

Until the law abiding citizens of every stripe demand change, this will spiral out of control more with each passing day...

If law enforcement officers aren't allowed to enforce the law... why do we pay for them?
I'm starting to favor de-fund the police.

quote:

The names of 13-year-old Adam Toledo and 22-year-old Anthony Alvarez, who were armed when they ran from police …

Wait, let me guess. He tried to shoot the cop? Massad Ayoob has said that "the younger serpent has the stronger venom."

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
Driving with a suspended license is a minor offense? Ok! All those folks I jailed for it must be really pissed now!

{start complete sarcasm}Yeah man! Everyone knows you are just harassing them. Also everyone knows you don’t need a driver license when you are TRAVELING. Come on man! {End sarcasm}

I am so sick of all this anti police BS limiting police from doing their jobs or making them hesitant to do things in fear of getting in trouble which can result in dire consequences for the officer or the public.

Be well.

Reap what you sow.

Pure genius. Instead of addressing the problem of people running from the police, they'll solve it by allowing everybody to escape simply by running away.

Seems legit if your goal is to INCREASE crime rates.

Yes, the reality is that crime will likely increase, but in the in the demented, sick and twisted minds of the dems / libs / progressives, because there will be fewer recorded arrests, prosecutions and incarcerations, etc., they will be able to claim that their policies are successful in reducing crime.

Sooo, NO foot pursuits, OR vehicle pursuits in Chicago!

I guess role of the CPD is essentially reduced to providing security details for politicians and functioning as tour guides in the windy wicked city...

Does fast walking count? Cause I’m gettin too old and tubby to really run, and I want my freebies too.

Same idea as vehicle chases.
I wouldn't mind the idea if they actually came down much harder on them when (and if) they finally caught up with them but that idea seems to have gone away too. Fleeing should be a serious enhancement, maybe equal to the most serious charge they are facing for whatever started the chase.
So it sounds like we can all make a free attempt to get away now if we're ever being chased in Chicago.
Who's going to stop us?

quote:

Originally posted by the_sandman_454:
Seems legit if your goal is to INCREASE crime rates.

Don't know if that's their goal, but that's what they're achieving.

I'm truly beginning to believe leftism is a mental disorder. I have no other explanation for the behavior of the left.

Also, police may stop any foot pursuit if they pass a donut shop.