NCJ Number
129023
Journal
Law and Order Volume: 38 Issue: 11 Dated: (November 1990) Pages: 53-54
Date Published
1990
Length
2 pages
Annotation
A total of 296 Illinois municipal and county law enforcement organizations were randomly surveyed concerning the content of their written guidelines on police pursuit driving.
Abstract
Respondents were asked to indicate on the survey form whether their departments' written guidelines included 16 elements listed on the form. The survey found that 61 departments had no written guidelines for pursuit driving operations. Of the departments that have written policy on pursuit driving, many have serious gaps in the policy statements. More than half of the policy statements fail to address such significant issues as the use of or authorization to use roadblocks, the number of police units authorized to participate in a pursuit, and whether pursuit activities will be limited to marked police units. Other policy elements, although included in the majority of the departmental policies, are absent from the policies of a significant minority of departments. Only 62 percent of the departments require supervising officers to monitor ongoing pursuits; just 57 percent require permission or authorization to join an interagency pursuit; only 69 percent prohibit intentional contact between police units and pursued vehicles; and 56 percent address the issue of firearms use during pursuits. Most of the departments should upgrade their written policies on pursuit operations.