Another step towards a time when stopping for police red/blue lights and siren becomes totally optional.

No one that I'm aware of is advocating for potentially deadly pursuits for minor misdemeanor offenses but to halt all pursuits, including for violent felonies, seems irrational.

Many states have provisions in their criminal codes to charge someone fleeing from the police who kills an innocent during the course of a pursuit with felony murder. Such charges should be vigorously pursued in such cases and not plea bargained down to some meaningless misdemeanor.

It appears that the previous department policy regarding pursuits limited the number of cars involved, mandated the use of headlights, flashing blue lights and sirens and stated pursuits could only be only be initiated for violent felony crimes. That combined with the ability of supervisors to cancel pursuits would seem to be a reasonable attempt to mitigate the risk to the public while not totally neutering the police response to violent offenders who choose to flee in vehicles.

Hopefully, this ill-advised moratorium on all pursuits will not become permanent and a compromise will be reached during the department review.



Link

City of Atlanta police officers will no longer chase suspects’ vehicles while the department reviews its protocol, Chief Erika Shields said Friday.

“Please know that I realize this will not be a popular decision; and more disconcerting to me personally, is that this decision may drive crime up,” Shields said in a memo to the department announcing the change. “I get it.”

The announcement follows several deadly incidents. Last month, two motorists — one on the way to pick up medicine for his disabled child — were killed when they were struck by a stolen car whose drivers were fleeing pursuit, Atlanta police said. A driver in a stolen vehicle fleeing police smashed into a woman’s car on New Year’s Eve, killing her, police said.

At a Friday news conference, Shields said the department’s greatest successes are not achieved through car chases while noting the risk to innocent motorists.

“We will rely on other techniques,” Shields said. “This has given me heartburn for some time. I would rather err on the side of safety, even if it does mean temporarily not being as active in a space as I think we need to be.”

While she noted that “an overwhelming number of crimes are committed where a vehicle is involved” and that significant arrests often follow zeroing in on a specific vehicle, other factors influenced the decision. Shields called the judicial system broken, saying suspects out on bond too often become repeat offenders.

“I don’t want to see us cost someone their life in pursuit of an auto theft person or burglar, when the courts aren’t even going to hold them accountable” Shields said. “How can we justify that?”

Following the December collision that killed Mark Hampton, 43, and Jermanne Jackson, 44, the Atlanta Police Department arrested Marguell Scott and Emmanuel Fambro, both 19, and charged them with murder and other crimes. Scott had been acquitted of a Fulton County murder in September and remained in custody without bond Friday on the more recent charges. The murder charge against Fambro was later dropped, although he still faces charges of obstruction, possessing a gun during the commission of a felony and gang participation, records show. He was freed on a $12,000 bond on Dec. 21, records show.

Fulton District Attorney Paul Howard responded in general terms to Shields’ announcement, saying in a statement to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that his office is working with the Atlanta Police Foundation to improve the criminal justice system.

“I am not sure of the connection between police chase policies and a flawed judicial system, but I am sure that we will continue to listen to our partners and work with them to make it better,” Howard’s statement said.

The Atlanta Police Department previously updated its pursuit policy in September 2018. Shields said Friday that pursuits have long been part of police work. “I’ve been on the force 25 years and pursuits have been going on forever,” she said.

Future changes may stipulate that only highly-trained officers can participate in pursuits, she said.

The previous policy allowed up to three police vehicles to join in a vehicle chase. Under that policy, officers were authorized to pursue a vehicle if a suspect had a deadly weapon, posed an immediate threat of violence to officers or others or if officers believed the suspect had committed or threatened serious physical harm.

Officers pursuing suspects were mandated to use sirens, flashing blue lights and headlights, the previous policy stated.

Still, that policy had come under scrutiny and the recent incidents have given Shields pause.

“The pursuit itself just is not essential,” she said.

Her Friday announcement sparked varied reactions among metro Atlanta residents.

“Bravo,” said Joseph Pond, who lives in Cobb County. “Too many lives are lost over meaningless car chases.”

Chris Rich, who lives in Atlanta, was trying to make sense of the policy decision. “This is pretty drastic,” he said.

“If I’m a criminal, it’s open season. It’s going to impact all the law-abiding citizens. It’s worrisome.”

He understands where Shields is coming from, though, and wishes the police department felt more support from other agencies. He knows several police officers and worries about morale.

“We’ve got these guys working hard, trying to make our streets safe, and then you’ve got this revolving door with these repeat offenders,” Rich said. “I just cannot understand why the mayor’s office is not putting more pressure on the DA’s office or the judicial system. There needs to be a unified front.”

Some AZ agencies (mine included) went through this phase a few years ago. Air units or unmarked units were thought to be safer. Trying to get that type of alternative response was almost impossible within a large metro area like Phoenix.

The level of violation should still be a consideration. The bad guys continued driving recklessly and injuries/deaths still occurred.

Some of those agencies started training and using the PIT maneuver (mine included) when safe to do so. This was critical to stop wrong way drivers on metro area freeways.

quote:

The announcement follows several deadly incidents. Last month, two motorists — one on the way to pick up medicine for his disabled child — were killed when they were struck by a stolen car whose drivers were fleeing pursuit, Atlanta police said. A driver in a stolen vehicle fleeing police smashed into a woman’s car on New Year’s Eve, killing her, police said.

This should equate to Felony Murder During the Commission of a Crime.

So now all criminals in Atlanta have to do to avoid apprehension is... run?

Not sure if it's still the case, but I worked with a girl whose dad was a Houston PD office. Was told that they had a policy to not engage pursuit with motorcycles, but that's 2nd/3rd hand communication, so not sure if that was an official policy.
But, I can see the merit there, as it seems fairly likely to end poorly.

#Babydriver

quote:

“Please know that I realize this will not be a popular decision; and more disconcerting to me personally, is that this decision may drive crime up,” Shields said in a memo to the department announcing the change. “I get it.”

Hey, you acknowledge that this idiotic decision will drive crime up. Then why the hell did you institute it?

You are SUPPOSED to be lowering/stopping crime. That is why we have police!

Thats gonna hurt utoob revenues for a lot of posters....

quote:

Originally posted by LS1 GTO:

quote:

The announcement follows several deadly incidents. Last month, two motorists — one on the way to pick up medicine for his disabled child — were killed when they were struck by a stolen car whose drivers were fleeing pursuit, Atlanta police said. A driver in a stolen vehicle fleeing police smashed into a woman’s car on New Year’s Eve, killing her, police said.

This should equate to Felony Murder During the Commission of a Crime.

Felony Murder is extinct in large cities due to the progressive justice reform prosecutors. there are the laws on the books and then there are the laws these prosecutors choose to ignore.

quote:

“I don’t want to see us cost someone their life in pursuit of an auto theft person or burglar, when the courts aren’t even going to hold them accountable” Shields said. “How can we justify that?”

that's a good question

I agree with stopping all vehicle chases IF all you're going to do is chase. We see it around here on occasion, where the police chase goes on and on and on, putting innocent people at risk, while the police wait for them to run out of gas or wreck.

If you're chasing with the intent to stop, I'm all for chasing. PIT them, shoot the tires, or otherwise disable their escape. Shouldn't that be the point?

Why don't they do what other places have been doing for a while and shoot the car with a gummy dart and then follow from afar?

quote:

Originally posted by nasig:

quote:

“I don’t want to see us cost someone their life in pursuit of an auto theft person or burglar, when the courts aren’t even going to hold them accountable” Shields said. “How can we justify that?”

that's a good question

Correct, and the 19 year old who murdered the two people in the chase was released on 12k bond AFTER they dropped the murder charge. Yeah, I would be frustrated too. What an F'd up judicial system.

quote:

Originally posted by Poacher:
Why don't they do what other places have been doing for a while and shoot the car with a gummy dart and then follow from afar?

The StarChase system is quite expensive. Somewhere around $5000.00 per car to equip then around $300.00 per shot and it frequently requires multiple attempts.

quote:

Originally posted by nasig:

quote:

“I don’t want to see us cost someone their life in pursuit of an auto theft person or burglar, when the courts aren’t even going to hold them accountable” Shields said. “How can we justify that?”

that's a good question

It is. I'm not saying I agree with the decision to halt the chases, but I guess she's trying to highlight the futility of chasing and arresting people who are going to be back on the streets sooner rather than later.

Vehicle pursuits are inherently dangerous to everyone involved, especially in densely populated areas. Pursuits in rural Montana are very different than pursuits in a metropolitan area. How you define a pursuit is important. A pursuit does not involve some guy who just won't stop; it occurs when the other driver is actively and aggressively attempting to evade the police. There are just so damn many variables that the officers cannot control while some reckless idiot blasts around in a deadly missile. Far too many innocents have been killed in vehicle pursuits, and for what? Idiots who run from the police don't think of the logical consequences. Pursuits are thrilling for officers and I had my share of the fun more than 40 years ago. But experience taught me that innocents and officers get dead in pursuits. A neighboring department to mine was involved in pursuits that killed a dozen people over a 20 year period. You have to weigh the risk to the public against the risk of having the fleeing person remain at large. When it appears a pursuit is initiating, supervisory oversight is critical. My department set a policy more than 20 years ago that equated pursuits to deadly force. If they present an active threat, you can chase them, and then stop them by whatever means necessary. Chasing misdemeanants, traffic only violators, even a car thief can come to a sudden tragic end. I really doubt Atlanta will permanently end all pursuits, it appears they want to reassess their policy to minimize the risk to innocent persons and to officers.

I feel safer in Atlanta already.

quote:

Correct, and the 19 year old who murdered the two people in the chase was released on 12k bond AFTER they dropped the murder charge.

hard to even comprehend such an outrage

Yes, its bullshit. The problem seems to be they fear chasing has a disportionate impact on minorities. And minorities seem to be the ones most chased because they're the ones who flea. Stopping chases tells them they are winning with that strategy. The simple fact remains its stupid to run with your own car, but not as stupid with a stolen one.

So the plan is to first steal a car, then run if the law sees you. There is little punishment and killing someone else isn't really much of a problem.

Or Atlanta is such a law abiding place its not a problem. My prediction is Atlanta will soon be like LA where criminals can just do as they please. One of you GA folks: do they crap and use street drugs, too?

Yay for the valet, not so much for Atlanta PD.

Link

A would-be car theft was stopped Saturday night when a valet pulled a teenage suspect from a woman’s vehicle by his sweatshirt, Channel 2 Action News reported.

The 22-year-old was working at a valet stand on the corner of 11th and Peachtree streets and had just taken the keys to a BMW, he told the news station. When he turned to park the vehicle, he saw a teen in a hoodie sitting in the driver’s seat.“I just grabbed his hoodie, because the window was already down,” the valet, who did not want to be identified, told Channel 2. “I opened the door and I ripped him out.”The valet’s manager came over to help when the teen ran back to a getaway car, he said.“The passenger on the right side, he pulled a gun out on him, and we backed off from there,” the valet said. “He took off, but we got the license plate.

”Atlanta police attempted to stop the suspects’ vehicle, but it sped away, according to Channel 2. Officers did not pursue in accordance with a new policy to suspend car chases while the department reviews its protocol. Chief Erika Shields announced the policy change Friday at a news conference. The decision follows several deadly incidents in recent months that killed innocent motorists.

“We will rely on other techniques,” Shields said. “This has given me heartburn for some time. I would rather err on the side of safety, even if it does mean temporarily not being as active in a space as I think we need to be.” The suspects in Saturday’s attempted theft are still at large.