The Bismarck Tribune
BILLINGS, Mont. — The number of high-speed police pursuits in Billings dropped more than 75 percent following a new policy prohibiting city officers from chasing fleeing suspects for minor traffic infractions, the police department said.
The high-speed pursuits are “the highest-liability thing that we do in law enforcement,” Billings Police Chief Rich St. John told the Billings Gazette.
“We started weighing the risk, the liability, the danger to the officers, citizens and suspects, and we decided the restrictive policy was the way to go as for traffic offenses,” the chief said.
The department said that between Feb. 2 and Aug. 2 of this year, five police pursuits within city limits took place.
That’s compared with 22 chases during the same period in 2009.
St. John said the policy change is intended to reduce the chances of crashes that could injure other motorists, officers or fleeing suspects.
“Sure, some people want to engage for the thrill of the chase,” he said. “It’s certainly what you sign up to do, to catch these people. But times have changed. We need to be very cognizant of our actions.”
The city currently faces a lawsuit by the family of a woman killed in 2008 after being struck by an intoxicated teenager fleeing officers.
Lillian Stahl, a Billings Clinic nurse, died after her car was hit by an SUV driven by the teenager. Stahl’s family in the lawsuit contends the Billings Police Department and Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Office contributed to her death by chasing the teenager.
St. John said the new policy is not a result of Stahl’s death or the family’s lawsuit, but just a result of policies being reviewed and regularly updated.
Sgt. Kevin Iffland said the new policy was completed in February 2009, and went into effect on Feb. 2 of this year.
Copyright 2010 The Bismarck Tribune, a division of Lee Enterprises