BY ANDREW STRICKLER
Newsday
SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y. — The chairman of the Suffolk County Legislature’s public safety committee said Friday that the death of two people in police chases in recent months should spur a focused review of the policy covering potentially dangerous pursuits.
“I would give my support to any changes that would help police establish a protocol ... that would make their decisions more clear,” said Legis. Jack Eddington. “Not to hinder their abilities, but to help them know when they are making a safe decision.”
Legislators and experts weighed in on Friday on what one police policy expert called a “nationally controversial issue” after the death on Wednesday of Gabriel Bergianti, 27, of Port Jefferson Station. The Army National Guardsman was killed when a police cruiser chasing a motorcyclist through a red light collided with his car in a Mount Sinai intersection.
The Bergianti crash is under investigation, but Suffolk Police Commissioner Richard Dormer said it appeared the officer’s action did not violate department policy. Dormer declined further comment Friday.
In December, William Calhoun, 59, died in his living room after a man suspected of dealing drugs led Suffolk police on an extended high-speed chase before he crashed into Calhoun’s Farmingdale home. His family has filed a notice that they plan to sue Suffolk and Nassau counties for $20 million.
While acknowledging “a fine line” between public safety and the need to apprehend suspects, safety committee member Legis. Joseph Caracappa called the recent crash an “isolated incident” and pointed to the still-unidentified motorcyclist who ran the red light.
“I think the police department has a policy in place that allows them to undertake pursuits safely,” he said.
Caracappa argued that lawmakers should focus on tougher penalties for those who run from police. “In this case, this reckless person should be charged with murder or manslaughter, and ... felony assault of a police officer,” he said.
More than 300 people a year are killed in police pursuits nationally, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and some cities have implemented more restrictive policies, including “felony only” chases.
Dormer has said that the Wednesday crash did not constitute a pursuit because the chase lasted one-fifth of a mile.
Before the accident, Officer Robert Farisi had seen one cyclist doing a wheelie, Dormer said Thursday. The officer went to pull over the four motorcyclists. Three of them stopped and a fourth fled. Farisi’s car struck Bergianti’s car as the officer began to pursue the fleeing motorcyclist, police said.
Suffolk police declined Friday to provide a copy of their pursuit policy. Dormer said previously that it “pretty much mirrors the state law.”
New York State vehicle and traffic laws give officers broad protections in cases of crashes or fatalities, including those involving innocent bystanders, according to Touro Law Center Professor Martin Schwartz, who studies police conduct issues.
Schwartz said those laws were not intended to be the basis of policy and “police departments can have training and supervision and implement policies that are more cautious.”
Police chase deaths
More than 300 people were killed in police chases every year from 1995 through 2005. One-third were bystanders.
New york State deaths
A total of 51 died during those years.
Bystanders - 32
In chased vehicle - 18
Police - 1
SOURCE: NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION
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