hmmm.... 25% of phoenix police pursuits cause traffic accidents. and one person a day nationwide dies in a traffic accident caused by a police pursuit. Original Article Phoenix police are restricting car chases Focus is safety of bystanders Judi Villa The Arizona Republic Oct. 19, 2005 12:00 AM Phoenix police no longer will chase fleeing drivers on the city's roadways unless the person is wanted for a violent crime. The Phoenix Police Department joins a growing number of law enforcement agencies in the Valley and nationwide that are restricting pursuits in an attempt to safeguard the public from unintended car crashes and deaths. The new policy forbids pursuits for traffic violations, stolen vehicles, misdemeanors and non-violent felonies. It also tells police to refrain from starting or continuing pursuits when the fleeing driver exhibits "reckless disregard" for public safety. The policy mirrors a nationwide trend to end the days of police barreling down the streets in pursuit of drivers who overwhelmingly are not violent felons. "The bottom line is pursuits are risky, and what you get at the end of the day isn't worth raising the risk for my family or your family," said Geoffrey Alpert, a professor of criminology at the University of South Carolina. "When the bad guy has the upper hand, sometimes you have to let them go and get them another day. Ninety-nine percent of the time, you'll get another day." Phoenix Police Chief Jack Harris said even though his department's new pursuit policy is "very restrictive," it doesn't mean police will simply let the bad guys get away. Instead, Phoenix police will be trained to rely more heavily on aircraft and undercover units to follow suspects and to lead patrol officers to them when they get out of their cars. "The goal is still to arrest them, just in a different, safer way," Harris said. Phoenix's new policy was unveiled Tuesday to the City Council's Public Safety Subcommittee. It has been in the works since late 2003 and comes on the heels of a study analyzing 423 pursuits in 2002. Only 43 of those pursuits resulted in arrests for violent felonies. At the same time, 25 percent ended in traffic collisions. "It all goes back to community safety for us," Phoenix police Cmdr. Joe Yahner said. "It's in everybody's best interest for us to have a policy like this. . . . We're in an urban environment with lots of cars. There's like 1,200 red-light signals in the city of Phoenix. That's 1,200 opportunities for this to end badly." Policies at other Valley agencies, including the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office and Tempe, Peoria and Glendale police, already have changed to limit who can be chased. Nationwide, one person dies every day as a result of a police pursuit, according to an FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin issued three years ago. Innocent third parties constitute 42 percent of people killed or injured in pursuits. And one of every 100 high-speed pursuits results in a death. "There's no doubt that getting an innocent civilian killed for a traffic violation or even a stolen car isn't worth it," said Phoenix City Councilman Dave Siebert, chairman of the Public Safety Subcommittee. Over the past few years, the department had already begun to not go after some suspects if it was deemed too dangerous. Between 2002 and 2004, pursuits fell more than 65 percent in Phoenix. "This is stuff that happens very quickly, and it's very fluid, and it poses an extreme danger to the public," Yahner said. "It can end tragically in a heartbeat. We just don't want that to happen."