Fatal police chases increased in NC and nationwide, despite calls for fewer pursuits

Despite recommendations to reduce police chases because they can be dangerous, the number of deadly police pursuits has increased in North Carolina and nationally.

Deadly police pursuits in North Carolina increased from nine in 2018 to 22 in 2022, which is the highest number of lethal police chases since 1996, according to National Highway Traffic Safety and Administration data.

From 2018 to 2022, the five-year average was 13.6, compared to 8.6 the previous five years and 7.4 in the five years before that, that data show. In 2022 alone, 24 people died in 22 chases.

Chases can be dangerous to police but mostly to others. From 2012 to 2022 in this state, 138 people died in pursuits, including two officers, 72 occupants in vehicles running from police, and 61 drivers in other cars, according to the national traffic safety data.

North Carolina police are rarely held responsible for lives lost during chases because the state’s higher courts have never ruled that a deadly police chase here met the “gross negligence” standard needed for a plaintiff to win a lawsuit against a city or an officer, according to interviews with attorneys.

But after a Superior Court judge refused to dismiss a lawsuit filed against Durham, the city recently agreed to a $2.5 million settlement with the family of Brooke Lynn Maynard. She was killed in 2018 when an armed robbery suspect crashed into her car while trying to evade police in a stolen vehicle.

Recent report recommends changes

A national report published in 2023 recommends that police reduce how frequently they chase vehicles to get criminal suspects in custody.

The report, produced by a partnership among the U.S. Department of Justice, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Police Executive Research Forum, sought to develop guidance for agencies. A working group, which included Fayetteville and Burlington officers, helped develop dozens of recommendations.

The report recommends that pursuits should only be used when a violent crime has been committed and when suspects pose an imminent threat to commit another violent crime.

“You can get a suspect another day, but you can’t get a life back,” Chuck Weber, head of the Police Executive Research Forum, wrote in the report.

The increase in police pursuits is unfolding in the broader context of other public safety challenges, including increases in violent crimes, traffic fatalities and risky driving behavior following the pandemic, the report states.

Some cities report that more people have been fleeing law enforcement in vehicles. In North Carolina, incidents of people driving to try to evade Highway Patrol officers have more than doubled in recent years, according to department spokesman 1st Sgt. Chris Knox.

From 2019 to 2022, the number of Highway Patrol pursuits increased from 454 to 1,053, according to data Knox provided. At least 29 people died and 49 people were seriously injured in those pursuits.

The National Highway Traffic Safety and Administration data showed a spike of fatal crashes across the United States in recent years.

In 2022, deadly police pursuits crashes across the nation reached an all time high of 577, with 2020 and 2021, coming in second and third respectively, according to the federal numbers.

What is North Carolina law?

State law says that speed limitations don’t apply to officers chasing law violators, but the exemption doesn’t protect officers who recklessly disregard safety.

In North Carolina, pursuit policies are generally set by local police departments, sheriffs offices and the Highway Patrol.

But sometimes, it’s not just about the written policy, said Donald Beskind, a law professor at Duke University who was one of two lawyers who represented the family of the woman killed in Durham in 2018. Officer training and experience is also key, he said.

In the Durham case, two officer trainees were chasing a carjacker. The driver led police on an 11-minute chase past two universities, through multiple neighborhoods and 14 red lights before he slammed into Maynard, a 24-year-old mother, killing her instantly.

Beskind said his research indicated that pursuit training in Durham for officers involved included officers driving around cones in a parking lot.

What NC law enforcement leaders say

North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association executive director Eddie Caldwell pointed out that state law requires agencies to have a pursuit policy but those policies can vary from department to department.

Henry King, Edenton Police Chief and president of the North Carolina Association of Chiefs of Police, said with pursuits, officers are often darned if they chase a law violator, and darned if they don’t.

Sometimes chases result in a crash, but sometimes crashes still happen when officers pull back, King said, citing a recent incident in Edenton. An officer pulled back on his attempt to pull over a man who ran a stop sign when the car raced toward downtown, but the man still ended up running his car into a vacant house.

“You have one side of society that says ‘I want something done’, and you have another group that says ‘It’s getting ridiculous,’ ” he said.

In that type of environment, police departments often lean into their senses of preferences of the people they work for: local taxpayers.

“Everybody has their own separate thresholds, based on what their community expects,” King said.

Incomplete federal data?

The San Francisco Chronicle in February published an investigation into deadly police chases nationally, reporting that the federal information on fatal pursuits is incomplete.

Journalists there used a broader definition than the highway administration agency, including deaths caused by an officer ramming a car. The newspaper reported finding hundreds of deaths were missing due to reporting gaps and unknown reasons.

The Chronicle found there were 92 deaths in police pursuits in North Carolina from 2017 to 2021, marking nine deaths per million deaths during that time period. The highway administration’s numbers indicate that there were 70 deaths in the state during that time.

The Chronicle ranking put North Carolina tied with Colorado at 23th and 24th highest out of the 51 states.

Virginia Bridges covers criminal justice in the Triangle and across North Carolina for The News & Observer. Her work is produced with financial support from the nonprofit The Just Trust. The N&O maintains full editorial control of its journalism.

NC Reality Check is an N&O series holding those in power accountable and shining a light on public issues that affect the Triangle or North Carolina. Have a suggestion for a future story? Email realitycheck@newsobserver.com