Portland PD shifts policy to ease restrictions on vehicle pursuits

The revised policy now permits police, weighing public safety and traffic conditions, to pursue suspects fleeing in vehicles during stings, unlike the previous restrictions

December 21, 2023 10:14 AM

The Portland Police Department referred as an example to video of a recent incident where a driver in a car suspected of being stolen drove at high speed, driving on the wrong side of the road even when no officers were pursuing them. Current policies “impeded officers’ efforts to quickly intervene and end the suspect’s dangerous driving behavior.”

By Austin De Dios
oregonlive.com

PORTLAND, Ore. — Police officers will have more freedom to initiate car chases in Portland, the police bureau announced Friday.

The policy changes, which go into effect Jan. 14, also offer clearer guidelines for officers behind the wheel, police said.

“Part of the reasoning for this policy change is to give us a little bit more flexibility to be able to pursue suspects we maybe haven’t pursued in the past,” Police Chief Bob Day said in a press conference Friday.

Portland police policy on vehicle pursuits has been evolving in recent years. In 2017, the bureau sought to protect the general public from the “inherent safety risks” involved when police pursue suspects by limiting them to when a suspect fleeing in a car had allegedly committed a violent felony or a driver was already putting people in serious danger with their conduct behind the wheel, police said.

Since that change, Portland police said people have figured out that officers are now less likely to chase them, and so there has been an increase in suspects eluding traffic stops and driving dangerously to avoid arrest.

The bureau referred as an example to video of a recent incident where a driver in a car suspected of being stolen drove at high speed in Northeast Portland, weaving in and out of traffic and driving on the wrong side of the road even when no officers were pursuing them. Police said the current policy “impeded officers’ efforts to quickly intervene and end the suspect’s dangerous driving behavior.” It was not until the driver stopped and left the car that police captured him, the video shows.

In most circumstances, the updated policy won’t change police activity, according to Captain Franz Schoening. The rule remains that police can only chase someone if a violent crime was committed, a driver is putting people in danger or in “extraordinary circumstances.”

The policy change most significantly impacts planned operations and missions, for example to stop car or retail theft, according to Schoening. Under the previous policy, if a suspect fled in a vehicle during a planned sting, police were not allowed to pursue them in most cases, police said. The changes now give police more freedom to chase those suspects, weighing public safety, nearby traffic and other factors.

Under the new policy, police have clarified guidelines for supervisors to authorize a pursuit that doesn’t meet the violent felony or dangerous-driving requirements, dubbed “extraordinary circumstances” in the policy document. Police are asked to evaluate the threat posed by the suspect, the severity of the crime, the risk of the chase, whether the pursuit will reduce the threat posed by the suspect, and if the person can be located later, according to the policy document.

The policy also lessens barriers to using established tools, like spike strips, to stop a car during a chase.

Police are required to stand down if they are pursuing a known suspect who they believe they can safely arrest later, according to current rules. The new pursuit policy will allow officers to go after a suspect when they believe “deferring attempts at apprehension would be more dangerous,” police said.

The updates also remove speed requirements for police using maneuvers to stop a vehicle, like ramming, police said.

A police officer can initiate a chase at any time, according to Day, but they must report their pursuit over the radio and supervisors will end the chase if they deem that the right course of action. Determining when to start a pursuit is up to the discretion of the police officer at the wheel.

“Much of what we do is very subjective,” Day said. “The expectation is that they’re constantly weighing all of the circumstances.”

There is an extensive review process after each chase to evaluate whether it was done safely and within the policy guidelines, police said.

Although the changes make it easier for officers to pursue suspects, the police department emphasized that the benefits of the chase must outweigh the dangers to the public.

“This is not a change for us in the sense that we’re going to be dismissing the inherent risk that comes with chasing vehicles,” Day said. “But we’re seeing a lot of violence stemming from some of these charges that we typically haven’t engaged in pursuits in.”