Calif. residents decry police policy on pursuits

August 07, 2008 08:18 AM

Palo Alto residents decry police policy against pursuing certain suspects, call for re-evaluation

By Jason Green
The San Jose Mercury News

PALO ALTO, Calif. — Palo Alto police were blocked from pursuing a pair of burglary suspects Wednesday because of a department policy that strictly limits car chases, eliciting cries of concern from residents.

Plainclothes detectives investigating a burglary wave in Midtown were the first to spot two men loading items into a mid-1990s BMW M3 around noon on the 2400 block of Greer Road, police Agent Dan Ryan said. Deeming the situation suspicious, the detectives called for uniformed officers, who arrived just as the men were leaving.

Police stopped the BMW on Oregon Expressway, but the driver made a beeline for Highway 101 as soon as officers stepped out of their cruiser. At that point, they had to drop the chase because of a policy that forbids car pursuits for property crimes, Ryan said.

“This is a carefully thought out policy,” he said. “We will not chase certain types of violations. This is one of those situations.”

Some residents, however, said the policy may need to be re-examined, especially when authorities themselves are witness to a crime.

“This kind of policy does not give the residents a lot of confidence that police will protect us,” said Midtown Residents Association Vice President Sheri Furman. “It kind of says we’re wide open, the police can’t chase you.”

Ryan said Palo Alto is one of several cities with such a policy on the books. It was adopted more than five years ago in response to lawsuits arising statewide over property damage, injury and loss of life due to police pursuits.

“We need to balance the safety of the community against a stolen TV,” Ryan said.

Officials with the Newark and Fremont police departments -- two agencies that ultimately helped search for the burglary suspects Wednesday -- said their agencies aren’t restricted from pursuing suspects in property crimes.

Palo Alto police are authorized to give chase when the motorist brandishes a weapon, is intoxicated, or has a violent criminal history, Ryan said. But even those are weighed against the risk to public safety.

Furman said the policy makes sense on its surface, but police still need the authority to pursue suspects when they’re caught red-handed.

“If it’s a safety issue, that a car pursuit is dangerous to other traffic and residents, then I can understand that,” said Furman, who lives about six blocks from the burgled house. “On the other hand, we’ve had so many burglaries over here, when you catch someone, I’d think they’d have some foresight” that they might try to flee.

Thirty-one residential burglaries were reported between May and July, according to crime statistics on the police department’s Web site. Nine occurred in Midtown.

Karen White, president of the Duveneck/St. Francis Neighborhood Association, said she would’ve supported a police pursuit on Wednesday.

“Given that there was a break-in and police witnessed it, I think police should have pursued,” White said.

But Mark Nadim, the newly elected co-chair of the Palo Alto Neighborhoods organization, said it wouldn’t have been worth the risk.

“You don’t want a high-speed chase in the middle of the day,” Nadim said. “It would be very dangerous to the residents.”

Meanwhile, the suspects in Wednesday’s burglary remained at large, even after their BMW was found wrecked on Interstate 880, between Auto Mall Parkway and Stevenson Boulevard. Both men were described as Hispanic and wearing T-shirts and dark blue shorts. One had slicked back hair; the other man’s hair was bushy.

Police are tracking down leads and revealed that the car is registered to an East Palo Alto resident.