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Austin foot chase restrictions intended to reduce risk

Having discussed police departments' chase polices for vehicles on Grits in the past, I was interested to see this story from the Austin Statesman ("Austin police adopting new foot chase policy," Oct. 15) about the Austin police creating a more restrictive policy for foot chases:The issue of when ? and how ? such pursuits should happen had fueled debate about whether a fired sergeant acted appropriately when he shot and killed Kevin Alexander Brown last year. The policy establishes criteria officers should evaluate before beginning a chase and how they should respond during a pursuit. According to the policy, officers must gauge the risk to themselves, fellow officers, suspects and bystanders. The two-page policy says that officers should consider whether a suspect may be armed and the availability of backup officers, and it requires them to radio a description of the suspect and location of the chase to dispatchers...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on October 16, 2008 (boomark / email).