Related article: To pursue or not to pursue... that is the question
By John Futty
The Columbus Dispatch
COLUMBUS — The number of vehicle pursuits by Columbus police reached an eight-year high in 2007, the first full year since the division loosened its chase policy.
But those numbers could come down as officers worry that any violation of the policy will result in stricter discipline.
“I will not chase anyone anymore, for any reason,” one officer told The Dispatch in an anonymous e-mail. “Almost every officer will now not even follow a car, even if no chase is happening and no traffic violations are being committed, if they refuse to stop.”
The head of the local union said the reluctance is based on a February decision by Chief James G. Jackson to classify all violations of the pursuit policy as “critical misconduct.”
Jackson changed his mind after a meeting with union officials in the spring, agreeing that violations of the policy will be considered on a “case-by-case basis,” said Sgt. Jim Gilbert, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge No. 9.
But Gilbert said the perception of enhanced discipline remains for many patrol officers, whose pursuits are increasingly being scrutinized through cruiser video.
“Our officers feel that they can’t effectively do their jobs if their judgment is being questioned more and more,” he said.
The division long has banned pursuits except when the occupant of a vehicle has committed or threatened to commit an offense involving “serious physical harm to a person” or the use, threatened use or display of a deadly weapon. Officers also are permitted to pursue a person who is wanted on an active felony warrant for those offenses.
It means officers can’t chase most offenders wanted or suspected for nonviolent crimes, including auto theft and traffic offenses, if they flee when a cruiser attempts to stop them with lights and siren.
In 2006, the division loosened its policy to allow officers to chase for some nonviolent first-degree felonies such as drug trafficking. The change also allows officers to chase based on “ reasonable suspicion” that the occupant has committed a qualifying offense, not the stricter “ probable cause” standard.
Under the new policy, the number of pursuits increased to 27 in 2007 from 18 in 2006. It was the highest number of pursuits in the past eight years. Pursuit records before 2000 no longer exist, a records-unit officer said.
Last year’s pursuits resulted in disciplinary action against nine officers, the most during the eight-year period. Details of the violations and discipline were not available.
Deputy Chief Stephen Gammill said he recommended during a February meeting with the chief and executive-staff members that all violations of the pursuit policy be considered critical misconduct. He sent an e-mail to supervisors when the chief agreed. Critical misconduct is punishable by a minimum of a written reprimand and a maximum of an unpaid suspension.
The recommendation was based on a perception among patrol commanders that the division was experiencing “an overall increase of pursuits seen as not within policy,” Gammill said.
Pursuits are among the most controversial aspects of police work, sometimes leading to crashes that kill or injure officers, suspects or innocent people.
“We take it very seriously,” said Cmdr. Kim Jacobs of the division’s training academy, who helped create the policy. “It’s always been a concern.”
All pursuits, no matter how brief or uneventful, are scrutinized by the division’s pursuit-review committee.
Jacobs said video cameras, while not yet installed in all cruisers, have provided the committee and supervisors with better information than ever to review the actions of officers involved in pursuits.
Gilbert said officers are concerned that the use of cruiser video is allowing supervisors, in the comfort of their offices, to “Monday-morning quarterback” decisions often made under difficult, stressful conditions on the streets.
Gammill doesn’t understand that reasoning.
“The bottom line is, if the officer is doing everything they are supposed to do, the cruiser video will be their best friend.”
Copyright 2008 The Columbus Dispatch