Allowing more high-speed police pursuits is unwarranted – and dangerous

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Every time police officers activate their lights and sirens, punch their accelerators and pursue fleeing motorists in Virginia, I hope they remember people like Andre Bassette Jr. Or teenage cyclists like Geormond Morton. Or Gary Roberson, whom I once interviewed.

All of these individuals were “third parties” – innocent pedestrians, drivers or their passengers who got in the way of speeding criminal suspects or pursuing law enforcement officials around the state. They died or were horribly injured during high-speed police pursuits.

I’m mentioning them following a recent report that several states and municipalities around the country have reversed policies about high-speed chases. They’re allowing police more latitude to speed to catch suspects.

It’s a dangerous trend that should end.

In previous years, many departments had limited high-speed pursuits. But Stateline notes legislators and some police agencies, citing concerns about crime, have since eased restrictions. (Stateline is a sister publication of the Virginia Mercury.)

This is happening despite data that reveal major decreases in violent and property crime rates since the early 1990s, according to the Pew Research Center.

It’s as if tough-on-crime politicians aren’t paying attention to the data. They’re letting perceptions of crime outweigh the actual facts, while glossing over the inherent dangers of such police chases.

Florida, Washington state, the District of Columbia and San Francisco are among the places that have rolled back restrictions over the past year. That decision is alarming, especially given the possibility for deaths and injuries to unsuspecting civilians and the officers themselves.

Several law enforcement agencies I canvassed around Virginia still have strict guidelines and parameters regarding police chases. They weigh the seriousness of the crimes a suspect is accused of versus the possible threat to others on the roadways. The Richmond Times-Dispatch found similar results last year when reporting on a handful of agencies.

The Fairfax County Police Department, the largest among localities in the state with nearly 1,500 sworn officers, has a pursuit policy mandating officers have a reasonable suspicion that fleeing motorists or their passengers have committed or tried to commit a violent felony, or possibly violated any felony or misdemeanor involving the display, threat or firing of a gun or explosive device.

The county’s latest policy began in 2021 and was updated in March. 

“The revised pursuit policy aligned FCPD with best practices regionally and across the country,” a police department spokesman told me by email. “This policy balances the need to pursue criminals while maintaining safety for all within our community.”

In Chesapeake, among the circumstances that police officers must consider are the “severity of crime for which the offending driver is a suspect” and that person’s “vehicle speeds and driving behavior,” according to the department’s 11-page pursuit policy.

“The decision to continue the pursuit should be based on the officer’s reasonable belief that the necessity for immediate apprehension outweighs the level of danger created by the pursuit,” it emphasizes. Pursuits are to be ended immediately in a number of situations, including when a suspect “begins to drive in the opposite lane against oncoming traffic.”

All of those steps seem smart. Yet, according to one study by a Las Vegas law firm, Virginia ranks second among the states where a deadly crash following a police pursuit is most likely. 

The January news release by H&P Law said it analyzed the percentage of fatal crashes involving a police pursuit in each state. The firm, known for personal injury litigation, studied crashes from 2017 to 2021 reported by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Virginia’s percentage of fatal crashes involving a police pursuit was 2.03%, only behind Georgia at 2.09%. Some 82 deadly motor accidents occurred during police chases over the five years that were studied, the law firm said.

A Virginia State Police spokeswoman, at my request, provided statistics on police pursuits from 2020 through 2023. The department patrols interstates, highways and rural roads in the commonwealth.

Relatively few people were injured or killed in those 2,222 police chases. Most of those harmed were criminal suspects or law enforcement officials. Last year, though, 28 third-party individuals were injured during 716 State Police chases. In 2021, one uninvolved person and nine suspects died during 492 pursuits.

When it comes to pursuits, police officers and their supervisors should prioritize “safety above all else,” Tim Goler, assistant professor of sociology and urban affairs at Norfolk State University, told me. “A balanced approach is crucial.”

Such pursuits should occur only when violent felons are the targets, for example, instead of someone suspected of something as minor as an expired license plate, he added.

Goler also advocated for serious evaluations of such incidents afterward, something he questioned is happening now in most police chases. “Departments should have rigorous review policies in place for every pursuit,” he continued.

Tim Goler, Ph.D., MUPDD, is Director of Research for the
Center for African American Public Policy and an assistant professor of sociology and urban affairs at Norfolk State University. (Provided photo)

Police agencies don’t want to let suspects in murders, rapes or robberies run free, obviously. But they have to ask themselves questions, too: Can they arrest a suspect later? Do they know where the person is headed, such as home or a workplace? Is that person an immediate threat to others in the community?

Relatives of those killed during police pursuits, especially people who weren’t the target, are left asking: “Why my loved one? Was the chase even necessary?”

Last July 29, a high-speed chase in Hopewell ended when the driver of a pickup truck sought by Prince George County Police ran a red light. The truck struck a car, and the car’s driver, 45-year-old Andre Bassett Jr. of Jacksonville, Fla., was fatally injured. Police said they had tried to stop the pickup truck because its driver was traveling 67 mph in a 45 mph zone.

On Aug. 7, a high-speed chase occurred in Henrico County as county police pursued a carjacking suspect. The suspect’s car crashed into a boy riding his bike, killing Geormond “Geo” Morton, 17, of Henrico.

Nor are such incidents new.

More than a quarter century ago, while reporting at the (Newport News) Daily Press, I met Gary Roberson. While walking to a convenience store in 1997 in Newport News, he was struck by a car fleeing police when it ran up onto the sidewalk.

Roberson suffered a broken lower back, damaged nerves in his spine, a broken leg, fractured collarbone and paralysis below the waist for a few months – among other injuries. He eventually endured more than half-dozen operations.

The suspect who struck Roberson, police said at the time, had earlier arrests or convictions for speeding, cocaine possession, brandishing a firearm and assault. A lawsuit filed by Roberson claimed police officers should have prevented the suspect from even entering his car the day of the chase.

Police officers can’t have a blanket “no chase ever” policy. Violent suspects would speed away every time.

However, we know fleeing suspects on our roads won’t be responsible. That’s why police officers must be.

Officers have an extra duty not just to make an arrest, but also to prevent harm against innocents. It’s an unfortunate – though necessary – burden.

Erring on the side of restraint may allow nonviolent offenders and low-level criminals freedom – at least immediately. Yet it will also keep third parties alive.

That’s a goal police officers should accept. Municipalities and departments bucking that philosophy are placing their desire for arrests over public safety.

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