The policy, which was introduced on Tuesday, also encourages cops to “look at alternatives” to pursue someone who is “obviously armed with a firearm.”
Under the policy, police officers can prosecute if they believe a person is committing or intending to commit a felony, a Class A misdemeanor, such as a home battery, or a serious traffic violation that could endanger others, such as drunk driving or road racing. .
Perhaps most importantly, the new policy makes it clear that the days of officers who chased them just because someone is trying to escape are over.
“People can avoid contact with a member for many reasons besides engaging in criminal activity,” the policy states.
The long-awaited ban on foot pursuit is expected to take effect by the end of the summer, after the 11,900 uniformed police officers of the city are trained.
The policy prohibits officers from chasing people on foot simply because they are fleeing. Accountability Police Politburo / AFP via Getty Images Politics also encourages police officers to “look at alternatives” instead of pursuing someone who is “obviously armed with a firearm.” Scott Olson / Getty Images
The move comes more than a year after two foot pursuits ended with police officers fatally shooting 13-year-old Adam Toledo and 22-year-old Anthony Alvarez in separate incidents in March 2021.
Toledo and Alvarez, who were armed when they left the police in separate pursuits in March 2021, were not mentioned in the press release announcing the policy or the policy itself.
Toledo was shot in the chest after throwing a gun and raised his arms, and Alvarez was shot in the back while firing a gun.
Anthony Alvarez appears on the ground after being shot during a police chase on March 31, 2021. Politburo Police Officer / EPAAnthony Alvarez’s daughter is holding a sign saying “I miss my dad” during a rally in Chicago.Shafkat Anow AP
Mayor Lori Lightfoot asked the department to create a temporary policy after the March 2021 shootings, and the county attorney general harshly criticized police for pursuing Alvarez.
But in April 2021, Lightfoot acknowledged that asking police for permission from a supervisor before engaging someone in a foot pursuit was not ideal.
Anthony Alvarez, 22, was shot in the back while firing a shotgun.GoFundMe
“I do not want people out there who are dangerous to think, ‘Well, if I run, then I’m safe.’ “I can continue to wreak havoc,” said the mayor. “Neither can we live in this world.”
Chicago Police Chief David Brown told reporters Tuesday that police were discussing a policy of pursuing legs “for several years before the shootings took place.”
He said he expected the new rules to make officers and the public safer, as has happened in other cities that have adopted similar policies.
“The impact on crime has been studied (and) we can look back at what made officers safer, made communities safer for over a decade,” he told a news conference.
The new policy includes a number of circumstances in which an officer must cancel a pursuit, including the requirement that the pursuit be terminated if a third party is injured and needs immediate medical attention that can not be provided by anyone else.
If the officers realize that they do not know exactly where they are, something that is possible in a chaotic situation in which they run in alleys and between houses, they must stop. And if they find themselves unable to communicate with other officers because their radios are down or for some other reason, they should stop.
Adam Toledo after being shot during a police chase on March 29, 2021. Politburo Accountability Police / EPA
The policy also reminds officers that they or their superiors will not be criticized or disciplined because they have decided not to pursue the leg or withdraw it.
Officers are also prohibited from pursuing, such as by implementing a tactic in which they accelerate with their group cars towards a group of people, stop abruptly and jump out “in order to stop anyone in the fleeing group”.
13-year-old Adam Toledo was shot in the chest after he dropped a gun and raised his hands. Facebook / Rebekah Garcia
The policy comes after years of debate about the danger of feet.
Five years ago, the US Department of Justice issued a scathing report saying that too many police chases in the city were unnecessary or ended with police shooting people they should not have shot. And three years ago, a judge signed a decree of consent that included a requirement to pursue a policy of foot pursuit.
A Chicago Tribune investigation found that one-third of city police shootings from 2010 to 2015 involved someone being injured or killed during a chase.
Other major cities, such as Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Portland, Oregon, have already implemented tracking policies.
With Post cables
