8/8/2019 Decision Decisions, page 2

1/1

20 times moreinnocent driverskilled than copsBy JOHN PECKTimes Staff Writerohn.peck@htimes.com

Innocent motorists such asASA engineer Darren Spur-

ockare20timesmorelikelytobe killed than theofficer whena police chasegoes awry.

From 2000 through 2006,accordingtotheNationalHigh-

ay TrafficSafety Administra-

tion, more than 2,500 peopleere killed during police pur-

suits. Of those, 40 were in thepolicevehicle,1,606werein thechasedvehicle, 785were inan-other vehicle, and just under100werepedestrians.

Alabamarecorded72 police-chasefatalitiesin those years.Ofthose, none were in the policecar, 59werein thefleeingvehi-cle, nine were in another vehi-cle and four were on foot.

PursuitWatch,a nationalpo-ice chase watchdog organiza-

tion, says 14,000peoplearein-ured each year in police chas-

es. According to its research,70,000 pursuits are launchedeach yearwith28,000resultingin wrecks.

Data on police chasesoftenconflict because pursuit re-porting is voluntary for manypoliceagencies.Also,manyvic-tims die days after a report isfiled, and their deaths may not

be attributed to a chase.Huntsville police only re-

centlybegan reporting allpur-suits.Before,logswerefilledoutonly if there were injuries orproperty damage.

Whetherto pursuea suspectposes a dilemma for officers,

whomustweigh thehazardsofa chase against the risk of let-ting a suspect get away.

Police were chasing twostreet-level drug suspects onMay 30 when their carslammed into Spurlocks onRedstone Arsenal. Spurlock,39, hadonlybeen in hisNASA

jobfortwoweekswhenthe ac-cidentoccurred. He previouslyhad worked forthe Boeing Co.Spurlock left behind his wife,Kelly, and two sons,ages6 and3.

A federal grand jury indict-ed the getaway driver, ValorieKeil Cox, on a second-degreemurder charge.Prosecutorsac-cuse her of driving in a man-nerwithextremeindifferencetohuman life. She pleaded notguiltyThursday.

John Harris Phillips, presi-dent of the Florida-based Pur-suitWatch.org, said an officerpursuing someone who hasnot committed a violent crimeis akin to shootinga gun in acrowded room. Sometimes,nothing will happen. Other

times, youllhit other people.Phillips interest in chases is

personal. His sister, SarahPhillips,diedin2001inacrash

withafleeingvehicleinOrangeCounty, Fla. Sarahs father, thelate Jim Phillips, started Pur-suitWatch with the goal ofpushing safer and smarter po-lice pursuit policies. JohnPhillips took the helm of Pur-suitWatch whenhisfatherdied.

Ithinkalotoftimes,theneg-ative perception is that if wedont pursue, the bad guys getaway,Phillips toldTheTimesby

phone. Phillips questions theneed for pursuit if police havea tag number or theidentity ofthe suspect and theres no im-minent danger to the public.

Wherewe come fromis,dotheofficersbelievethefleeingcarisasuspectinaviolentcrimelikemurder, rape, armed robbery?If that is not the case, its not

worth theriskto thepublicand

officers involved to pursue, hesaid.Geoffrey Albert is a crimi-

nologist at the University ofSouth Carolina and one of thenationsleadingexpertsonpur-suits. Alpert contends copsshouldntchasea suspectunlessa violent felony is involved.

Butstudiesshowviolentactsrarely trigger police chases.

Ina2000studyfundedbyanarmof theU.S. DepartmentofJustice, Alperts research teamexamined144chasesandfoundthat drivinga stolen carcited

by 32 percent of drivers who were caught was the mostcommon reason for running

frompolice.Otherleadingcaus-es:28 percentweredrivingwithsuspendedlicensesand22per-centwere drivingwhile intoxi-cated.

HuntsvillePoliceChiefHenryReyes agreed most motorists

whotry to outrunpolice arentdoing so because of serious of-fenses.

Theyre driving with a sus-pended license, or we have a

warrantfortheirarrestfor atraf-fic citation, things like that,Reyes said.

They simply dont considerthe risk, said Huntsville Pub-

lic Safety Director RexReynolds.

Alpertsaidthe biggestmythisthatifpolicedonthaveachasepolicy,everyoneis goingto run.

Anothermistakenidea,hesaid,is that people run becausetheres a dead body in everytrunk.

Phillipssaid he doubtsany-one contemplating a speeding

getawayissittingonthefencewaiting to see whether a de-

partment has a strong pursuitpolicy.

Andrew Clarke, a Memphislawyer involvedin a landmarkU.S. Supreme Court case in apolicepursuitchallenge,saidpo-liceshouldshowrestraintbeforestartingpursuit.

In 2001, Victor Harris, then19, became a quadriplegic in a

wreck caused by a Georgiadeputys ramming Harris flee-ingcar.Thecourtsupportedlawenforcements argument thatrunning a fleeing motorist offtheroad wascertainto eliminatethe risk to the public.

Thejob of law enforcementin pursuits, said Clarke, is toprotect the public dependingontheseverityofthecrimethatprecipitated the chase.

Officerssometimesget tun-nel vision when making thesplit-seconddecisionwhethertopursue,he said.

Their decision-makingprocessistoughwhenfilledwiththatmuch adrenalineandcon-tempt for the person fleeing,Clarkesaid.Manytimes,thein-nocentparties safety is nottheprimary consideration.

National and state pursuit deathsPolice

vehicle

0

7

0

4

0

6

0

6

0

9

05

0

3

Chasedvehicle

6

190

5

223

12

248

8

229

11

214

6234

11

268

Othervehicle

0

103

1

121

1

121

1

106

1

108

2104

3

122

Other

0

10

0

22

0

11

1

13

0

12

216

1

11

Totaldeaths

6

310

6

370

13

386

10

354

12

343

10359

15

404

Alabama

United States

Alabama

United States

Alabama

United States

Alabama

United States

Alabama

United States

AlabamaUnited States

Alabama

United States

The Huntsville Times

Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

reened throughfiveserpen-tine barriers.

Public Safety Director RexReynolds said Huntsvilles pol-icyallows judgmentcallsintheield and that, despite the high

speedsandthedeathofaNASAengineer, officers were withinpolicy during the chase.

Reynoldssaidinaninterview

Thursday that he and PoliceChief Henry Reyes are both

erycomfortable with ourpur-suitpolicy. ... You cannot writeapolicythatcanevertakeawayanofficersdiscretion.Thatsjusta vital part of law enforce-ment.

Four Huntsville police pur-suitsoutof294since2003havebeenfoundtobe outof policy,according topolicedocumentsobtained byThe Times.

JohnHarrisPhillips,directorof the watchdog site Pursuit-

atch.org, said officers oftenavetherightintentionsbutcan

ose sight of their No. 1 goal eeping thepublicsafewhen

inhot pursuit of a bad guy.Phillips questions the need

or pursuits if police have thesuspects tag number or iden-tity, especially if the suspect isunlikelyto bean imminentdan-ger.

Ithinkalotoftimestheneg-ative perception is, if we dontpursue,the bad guys get away.Thatsnotthecase,saidPhillips,

hose organization does ex-tensive research into pursuitpolicies and incidents.

If, asin this case, the pursuitbegan because of a street-leveldrugdeal andthepolicehad the

vehicles tag number, Phillipssaid, the pursuit should neverhave taken place.

But Reynolds said the dy-namic of the chase changed

whensuspect ValorieCox side-swipeda caron MemorialPark-

way near theold Ramada Inn.Cox went from being a sus-

pected drug offender to awoman whohad committed afelony in front of officers,Reynolds said. Leaving thescene of an accident with in-

juriesthesideswipedcarsdriv-ercomplainedof neck pain isa Class C felony punishable bya yearand a day to 10yearsinprison.

The pursuit on Drake Av-enuethespeedswerenotout-rageous,Reynoldssaid.Itwasrecorded at55 mph on a four-

lane split roadway. Only thendid the pursuit comeup inthe70s when they turned on theParkway.

AssoonastheyturnedontheParkway, theystruck a carandcommitteda felony.Itwasaveryunfortunate set of circum-stances thatmade thiscontin-ue.

1:02:05 p.m.Chase begins

Pursuing officer: Weve gota woman running, Patton andFoster,northboundon Patton.

Huntsville dispatch: STAC11,I wastakinga phonecall;10-9 your 10-20 (Repeat your lo-cation). Youre southbound

where?Pursuing officer: Heading

northbound on Patton, Alphatagnumber forty-sevenyankeefour four four tango ona whitePontiac Bonneville.

(Radio logs show that dis-patchers and officers gave outthe cars description a whitePontiacBonnevilleandlicenseplate number twice before itreached Memorial Parkway,and again seconds later.)

Thechase startedwith whatappearedto bea drugdealin aneighborhoodoffDrakeAvenueandPattonRoadatthe tail endof a Friday lunch hour.

Drug agentswiththeStrate-gic Counterdrug Team, orSTAC,amultiagencytask forceoperatingunderHuntsvillePo-lice Department policies, spot-tedCox andher passenger, 36-

year-old Paulette Woodall,seemingly selling or buyingdrugs.

Accordingtoanaffidavitfiledin federal court in support ofcharges against Cox, STAC

agents stopped the womensBonneville on Foster Drive.The car took off as officers ap-proached.

The women began to stopagain in the area of Drake Av-enueand PennyStreetbut fled

before officers could speak tothem.

Officers followed the Bon-neville east on Drake Avenueand south on Memorial Park-

way.Ontopoftheoverpassnorth

ofAirportRoad,the Bonneville

sideswipedatanBuickLaSabrewithenoughforcethat pursu-ing officers thought the chase

was over, FBI agent Curtis G.Parker wrote in the affidavit.

But Cox and Woodall didntslow down.

Reynolds said speeds ap-proached 70 mph as Coxspeddownthe Parkway, weavinginand out of traffic and dodgingpeople returning to workafterlunch.

TheaffidavitsaidCox jumpedthe median at Golf Road and

veered onto the Martin Roadexit,headingwest towardthear-senalsGate 1.

Officers began laying tire-puncturing stop sticks on theeastbound lanes of MartinRoad,thinkingthedriverwouldpanic at the sight of the flash-ing lights, barriers and guardsat the Redstone Arsenal gate.

Thetimeit took forCox andWoodall to travel from DrakeAvenueandPattonRoadto theMartinRoadexit:4 minutes,46seconds.

1:07:58 p.m.Huntsville police dispatchcalls Redstone authorities

Huntsville dispatch: Hey,thisis HPD.

Redstone Arsenal dispatch:Hello,HPD.

Huntsville dispatch: Howare you?

Redstone Arsenal dispatch:Oh, just having a lovely day,how about you?

Huntsville dispatch: Well,

weve got a pursuit going onthats headingtowardthe arse-nal.

Redstone Arsenal dispatch:Uh-oh, OK. What gives?

Dispatchershadlessthan twominutesto relaythe pursuitin-formationtoRedstone Arsenalfrom the moment the Bon-nevilleweavedtowardtheMar-tin Road exit to the time itreachedGate 1.

Reyes and Reynolds havesaid from the beginning thatcommunicationbetween agen-

ciesis problematic,and thatthelag caused by dispatchers hav-ing to phone one another cancostofficers valuable seconds.

Wevebeenveryhonestthatthey just did not have time toreact, Reynolds said. Clearly,communications was an issuein thiscase.

1:08:06 p.m.Bonneville breaches gate

Huntsville dispatch to Red-stonedispatch:Wevegota pur-suitgoingon thats headingto-

wardthe arsenal.Pursuingofficerto Huntsville

dispatch, also at 1:08:06 p.m.:Going through the gate atRedstone,runningthroughthegate at Redstone.

Huntsville dispatch: 10-4,units copy: Sheswent throughthe gate at Redstone.

Immediatelyafterthe crash,Redstone and Huntsville offi-cials admitted that communi-

DeadlyContinued frompage A7

Huntsville police in pursuit

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

38

48

18

64

98

Because the department s pursuit policy wasnot clear on when a pursuit had to be reportedto the administration,officers were onlysubmitting pursuitreports when thechase resulted inproperty damage orinjury, Reyes said.The policy wasclarified in 2006.

A sharp increase in recent years

The results of pursuit crashes

Damaged polic evehicles

Injured officer

Injured suspect

Injured passenger

Injured bystander

Suspect deaths

3x

1

0

1

0

0

7x

2

0

0

0

0

4x..

0

8

0

0

1*

11x

1

5

0

0

0

9x

5

3

1

1

2

* A passenger in a fleeing vehicle died in a crash after the pursuit was terminated. Thedriver and another passenger were injured and included in the suspect column abovebecause all three passengers were suspected of being involved in a drug deal.

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Reasons given by police for pursuing

Traffic violation

Felony suspect

Call for service

Assisting anotherofficer

47%

47%

5%

0

*According to a pursuit analysis, these pursuits were forpeople suspected of involvementin any crime.

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

46%

42%

12%

0

50%

33%*

17%

0

45%

39%

11%

5%

63%

23%

13%

0

The speed factor

Max. mph attained

Avg. mph in pursui t*

Greatest mph abovethe posted limit

Number of pursuits40 mph above limit

115

72

115 ina 50**

5

** This officer was disciplined.

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

115

72

108 ina 40

11

120

72

120 ina 40

5

130

70

108 ina 40

8

102

N/A

100 ina 45

27

Source: Huntsville Police Department

The Huntsville Time s

A dramatic uptick in pursuits in 2006 and 2007 can be attributedto an increased focus on traffic enforcement, a priority for thedepartment after Alabama s traffic fatalities increased 5 percentfrom 2005 to 2006, Police Chief Henry Reyes said.

In 2008, there were28 pursuits fromJanuary through May.

* Average speed in high-speed pursuit.

Please see DEADLY on A7

Police policyThe police departments policy notes at least eight factors that

influence whether a supervisor would call off a pursuit:1. whether the decision to pursue creates more danger to the

public than the need for immediate apprehension2. the performance capabilities of the police vehicle and driver3. the seriousness of the perceived emergency4. roadway conditions, either structural or weather-related5. pedestrian traffic6. speed, as well as how erratically the suspect is driving7. direction of traffic flow and traffic volume8. whether or not the person being pursued can be identified

and apprehended at a later time, and whether the continuance ofa pursuit creates a greater danger to the public than the need forimmediate apprehension

Chase victims often bystanders

he pursuit ended with this fatal crash just inside Redstone Arsenal on Martin Road.

Theyre driving with a

suspended license, or

we have a warrant for

their arrest for a traffic

citation, things like that.

They simply dont

consider the risk.Henry Reyes

Huntsville police chief

You cannot write a

policy that can ever

take away an officers

discretion. Thats just a

vital part of law

enforcement.Rex Reynolds

Director of public safety

A6 The Huntsville Times, Sunday, July 27, 2008