By Theodore Decker
Columbus Dispatch
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The man had torched his girlfriend’s house and led officers on a chase through two counties, police said.
Now, the suspect was about to get on I-270 at the beginning of the morning rush, and he was telling police over the phone that he wasn’t going to be arrested without taking other people out.
“He was a pretty big threat that we had to stop,” said Gahanna Police Officer Sherman Buck, who was involved in the March 6 chase.
Gahanna police did stop the man, using a maneuver that might occur more often on central Ohio roads once Columbus police change their pursuit policy to allow it.
It’s called PIT, or the “precision immobilization technique.” Although a few local departments have trained officers in the technique, Columbus officers are just now getting certified in preparation for the policy change, which should occur in the next few months.
“The PIT maneuver is a forcible rotation of a vehicle,” Columbus Sgt. Ted Reardon said at a recent training session for officers at National Trail Raceway near Kirkersville.
It works like this: A pursuing officer pulls up to a rear quarter panel of the fleeing car and steers into it, forcing the fleeing vehicle to rapidly decelerate and spin to a stop.
“The idea is to end this thing, and end this thing now,” Reardon said.
Experts say the move is not as controversial as it was many years ago because police have a better understanding of when to use it.
“The techniques have gotten better, the training’s gotten better,” said Geoffrey Alpert, a professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of South Carolina. Alpert is a leading expert on police pursuits and other high-risk police practices.
“It’s like everything else,” Alpert said. “When done properly, in the right environment, it’s a great opportunity.”
Commander Kim Jacobs of the Columbus police training bureau said the division started looking at the maneuver when the staff retooled the pursuit policy in 2005 and 2006.
Columbus officers are involved in about 20 pursuits a year, and the PIT maneuver can be applied only in certain conditions: mainly on uncongested roads and when a target car is going 45 mph or slower, Jacobs said.
“If you go any higher than that, you can’t accurately predict where his vehicle is going to end up,” Buck said.
If the maneuver is done right, a cruiser sustains little, if any, front-end damage, and other cruisers swoop in to block the suspect’s car.
“When it’s done properly like that, it can be a very effective tool,” Alpert said.
Whitehall has a few officers who learned the technique in pursuit schools, said Sgt. Tracy Sharpless. When to use it “depends on the circumstances,” he said. “Every pursuit is different.”
Gahanna Deputy Chief Ken Bell said 16 officers have been trained in PIT at the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy. Six more are scheduled for training this year.
The department has used the maneuver twice in the past two years.
“This latest one ... we got it stopped and didn’t roll,” Bell said of the March 6 pursuit. “It was done just perfectly.”
Before the suspect could reach interstate traffic, Gahanna police tightened the noose near Morse Road.
Officers at the pursuit’s tail end slowed traffic to the rear. While Buck closed in, another cruiser in front of the suspect slowed, forcing the driver to slow as well.
That’s when Buck made his move. The suspect’s van spun out and stopped. The driver was arrested, and no one was hurt.
“It fell in place perfectly, just like it was planned,” Buck said.
Copyright 2009 Columbus Dispatch