All posts tagged: Paul Farris

Police chases not worth risk of tragedy

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Here’s an article published the day of Paul Farris’ death. So tell me, exactly what’s changed in 2016?

Police chases not worth risk of tragedy
May 31, 2007

by Margery Eagan
Boston Globe Columnist

“Here’s yet another question: would you prefer someone driving through Boston erratically at 40 mph, or chased by police, at 70 or 80 mph?”

Explain this, please: Because about 100 children a year are abducted and killed by strangers, we have totally revamped American childhood. Good parents won’t even let children in the back yard alone.
Yet at least that many innocent Americans, including children (some estimate two or three times as many) are killed every year in police chases. And every time I’ve written a column asking if these chases are worth it, the response is the same.
Surely I am insane.
Really?

Two innocent bystanders killed; one permanently injured
The latest police chase tragedy came early Sunday morning when Javier Morales, 29, refused to stop for a state trooper in Everett. Morales made an illegal left turn off Route 16. He had no license and feared jail time for a previous no-license arrest.

Perhaps if he faced greater jail time for refusing to stop for police a penalty many have proposed to reduce these chases Morales, weighing his options, would have made a different choice. To stop.
As it was, Trooper Joseph Kalil chased Morales stolen SUV from Everett to Somerville’s Davis Square, where Morales plowed into a cab driven by Walid Chahine, 45, a husband and father. In the backseat were musician Paul Farris, 23, and his girlfriend Katelyn Hoyt. Hoyt and Chahine [Walid Chahine died at the hospital.] are at Mass. General, critically injured. Farris is dead.
The fourth victim: Trooper Kalil, who must live with what happened for the rest of his days.
So why is it that state police here, and in many other states, chase traffic violators at all? Boston police don’t. Neither do police in many other big cities, in part because of the risk of multi million-dollar lawsuits. Boston’s pursuit standards are higher than those followed by state police: Boston is supposed to chase only violent or dangerous suspects or those driving erratically, possibly because of drugs or alcohol.
Here’s yet another question: would you prefer someone driving through Boston erratically at 40 mph, or chased by police, at 70 or 80 mph?
One more question: Why do we assume that chasing even dangerous criminals is always worth the risk of maiming or killing a pedestrian or family in a minivan?

Myth vs. Fact
The myth, by the way, is that police typically or even regularly chase the dangerous, that there’s a dead body in the trunk, says Geoffrey Alpert of the University of South Carolina, who has studied police pursuits since 1983.
The fact is, between 75 and 80 percent of chases occur after moving violations, says Alpert. They’re mostly young kids who’ve made stupid decisions. The more powerful tool for police? Turn off the lights and siren and it’s more likely the suspect will slow down.
I guess the idea of letting the bad guy get away seems un-American. Perhaps, too, the car chase is too rooted in American legend, from The French Connection to O.J. to whatever live police pursuit Fox and MSNBC can find and broadcast.
And perhaps politicians don’t want to buck police. And then there’s adrenaline: If you’ve heard a chase on a police radio, you know want I’m talking about.
Yesterday Pearl Allen, a retired music and Afro-American studies teacher at John D. O’Bryant School, said what many say who lose family to police pursuits. That if police hadn’t chased, her grandson would still be alive.
Quentin Osbourne, once a standout for the Boston Raiders Pop Warner team, was 15 when he was ejected from a Hyundai Elantra he and six friends had piled into.
The 16-year-old unlicensed driver ran a stop sign. Police chased. He drove into a brick wall.
They were just kids, his grandmother said. (The police) put on the flashing blue light. I think the driver got scared and sped away, and they just kept chasing until they crashed.

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FOX25 Investigates: Massachusetts State Police logged 900 pursuits in 5 years

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VIDEO here:
http://www.myfoxboston.com/news/fox25-investigates-state-police-logged-900-pursuits-in-5-years/318809260

Very special thanks to Fox25 Investigative Producer, Erin Smith (@SmithReports), for reaching out and making this story happen.

Thursday, June 2, 2016. Fox25 News.
Troopers on police pursuits have racked up 132 crashes involving cruisers and other vehicles since 2012, FOX25 Investigates uncovered.

State Police have logged 917 total chases in the past five years. A spokesman for State Police said 843 of those pursuits complied with the agency’s pursuit policy, which requires cops to end the chase if the driver is only wanted for a misdemeanor or nonviolent felony and heads into densely populated neighborhoods or congested roadways. Troopers must also frequently check in with supervisors to continue the chase.

State Police defended their record, telling FOX25 Investigates the department closely examines each pursuit.

“The fact that the overwhelming majority of pursuits comply entirely with policy reflects the discipline of our troopers in deciding when to pursue vehicles,” said State Police in a statement.

The staggering number of State Police pursuits uncovered by FOX25 Investigates comes after Massachusetts State Police last month pursuing a driver on an hour-long, multi-state chase gunned down major roads, including Route 2 and I-495 and arrested him in a New Hampshire residential neighborhood.

>>READ MORE: Full State Police pursuit policy

A New Hampshire state trooper and a Massachusetts State Police officer were later placed on leave and are under investigation after SkyFox video showed officers punching the suspect at the end of the chase.

Deadly 2007 pursuit leads to policy review
Massachusetts State Police revised their pursuit policy in 2007 after a deadly Somerville crash. Javier Morales fled a routine traffic stop for an illegal U-turn in Everett and led police on a high-speed chase before smashing into a taxicab in Somerville, killing cab driver Walid Chahine and 23-year-old musician Paul Farris. Farris’ girlfriend Katelyn Hoyt was also seriously injured.

Hoyt spoke to FOX25 Investigates for the first time publicly about the life-changing crash that left her sedated in a coma with a shattered pelvis, a broken right wrist, a cracked sternum, broken ribs and a traumatic brain injury.

“I’m not mad at the police and I’m glad laws have changed and I’m glad we’re still fighting to change more laws about police chases,” said Hoyt. “But I really wish that there was more awareness. There’s so many innocent bystanders… You’re going to get another shot at this convict or this criminal, so just let it go and you’ll get him later.”

Hoyt said the recent New Hampshire chase was difficult to watch and urged police to rethink pursuits – for the safety of the officers as well as bystanders.

“Every time I hear a siren… I say a little prayer,” said Hoyt. “Please be with the officers. Please be with the people, the paramedics, the victims. Anyone who’s involved.”

After Hoyt’s crash, State Police ordered an internal committee to review all pursuits.

11 recent pursuits did not follow policy

In the past two years alone, internal reviews found 11 chases didn’t comply with State Police’s own pursuit policy.

“It certainly calls into question whether or not police ought to be involved and engaging in high-speed vehicle pursuits in the first place,” said Tom Nolan, a Merrimack College professor and retired 27-year veteran of the Boston Police Department.

Nolan said the way officers handled the end of the chase in New Hampshire shouldn’t be the only thing under investigation.

“They knew who this guy was,” said Nolan. “They knew where he lived. They had warrants outstanding for him. You can get him another time. I mean, what is the emergency?”

State Police couldn’t immediately provide details for the 11 chases that didn’t comply with policy and declined an interview request, but a spokesman said the violations were minor and no troopers were fired.

Last month’s chase that ended in New Hampshire is still under internal review and State Police said investigators are still compiling radio transmissions from the pursuit.

The full statement from State Police to FOX25 Investigates states:

“Pursuits require continual analysis of a host of evolving factors, any of which can change in a split second over the course of a pursuit — including speed, traffic conditions, population density of the surrounding area, the nature of the underlying crime committed by the suspect, and the threat posed to the public by the suspect. This rapid-fire analysis and continual decision-making by the pursuing troopers and the shift commander at troop headquarters determine whether the pursuit continues or is terminated. Like so many other actions that we ask law enforcement officers to perform routinely to protect the public, motor vehicle pursuits require a tremendous amount of tactical skill, discipline, and clear thinking in the midst of a crisis situation. It is easy for observers on the outside to second guess those actions, but the task of the trooper or police officer who has to stop a potentially dangerous suspect and end a threat is not quite so easy.
We are proud of our rigorous pursuit policy and our record of closely examining how our pursuits are conducted. The fact that the overwhelming majority of pursuits comply entirely with policy reflects the discipline of our troopers in deciding when to pursue vehicles.”

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CBN: Stop the Chase – How new technology can prevent deadly police pursuits

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http://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2016/april/stop-the-chase-how-new-technology-can-prevent-deadly-police-pursuits

Rockdale County, GA — Have you ever found yourself caught in the middle of a high speed police chase?
Though they may be entertaining to watch on television, police pursuits often end in violent collisions that kill or injure thousands of innocent bystanders and police officers each year.

Now, a new technology could change the way officers go after suspects and prevent these risky chases from ever occurring.

These accidents are a leading cause of injury, death, and lawsuits involving police officers, and can cost taxpayers an average of $3 million. But officers aren’t the only ones at risk during a high speed chase.

High Speed Chase Is Not Entertainment

Sheriff Eric Levett, in Rockdale County, Georgia, says anyone can be a victim of a police pursuit.

“With chasing, anybody can pull out in front of you, your breaks can fail, there’s a lot of different things that can cause some type of danger to the deputy and or the community,” he explained.

Jon Farris learned the hard way that in a matter of seconds, anyone can be a victim. His 23-year-old son Paul was on his way home in a cab when a vehicle pursued by police crashed into him at more than 70 miles per hour.

The state trooper went after the driver for making an illegal U-turn, despite the city’s no pursuit policy for any crime other than violent felonies. The officer faced no reprimand because according to state police rules, he was within his right to pursue.

An overwhelming number of police pursuits are started over non-violent crimes and escalate quickly, endangering the suspect, the policeman, and any bystanders along the way.

“Two or three seconds earlier, two or three seconds later than the timing of that pursuit and my son would be alive, so it’s just random,” Farris said. “I didn’t know where to go, I didn’t know what to do after Paul died, so I started researching police pursuits.”

He found on average that one person dies each day as the result of a police pursuit, a third of those deaths being innocent bystanders.

An FBI report uncovered that the true cost is probably two to three times higher than the stated average because pursuit fatalities are only reported at the discretion of law enforcement.

No government agencies track injuries from pursuits, leaving no information on police officers and bystanders paralyzed, brain damaged, or suffering from other life altering injuries.

How It Works

In order to cut down on high pursuit casualties, authorities like Sheriff Levett are investing in new technology known as Star Chase.

“I know that this technology has been a great investment, from the times we’ve launched this GPS tracking unit we have had a successful capture rate,” Levett said.

Star Chase allows officers to deploy a tracking device on vehicles without the driver knowing they’ve been tagged. For about $5000 per vehicle, officers can secretly but safely catch cars on the run.

Officers can deploy the tracker while they are behind a car they are pursuing or from outside their vehicle if a car they pulled over decides to flee. Drivers cannot feel the tracker hitting their car, so they do not know they’ve been tagged.

As the suspect thinks he is no longer being pursued, the officers begin their stealth pursuit, pulling up a map of the suspect’s location and alerting fellow law enforcement where the car is heading.

In most cases the suspects slow down to safer speeds because without the police car following them, they think they have gotten away, letting fellow drivers and bystanders avoid being in the middle of a high speed pursuit.

“When you can launch something and you can track it, you can discontinue the chase and just begin tracking the vehicle. You can apprehend the vehicle and or the suspect later,” Levett said.

So far, only a handful of Rockdale patrol cars have Star Chase, but Levett wants to invest in more Star Chase vehicles because of its success rate.

‘No Injuries’ with Star Chase

“We’ve captured everyone from the ones that we’ve launched,” Levett said. “No injuries to the deputy and no injuries to the community or citizens.”

Most departments rely on decades old tire spikes to stop chases, but even they are rarely used because of the danger involved. Police must also know where cars are heading.

One Rockdale County Police Officer explained the potential dangers to the officer when deploying spike strips.

“Trying to deploy stop sticks sometimes is very dangerous, especially if you put them out and the car swerves toward you, I’ve seen several videos of officers getting struck trying to deploy spike strips,” the officer said.

Levett admits new technology can be expensive, but he says it’s nothing compared to the cost of chases gone wrong.

“When you talk about the fees, the car is possibly going to be totaled, but the deputy was also life lighted to a nearby hospital,” he said. “So your incurring the fees of you know, air ambulance, your incurring the fees of him being hospitalized, and then aftercare where he’s going to go to therapy or just going to the doctor.”

“And not only that, the agency is losing a man or a woman that is down for weeks,” he added.

Levett says providing officers the right tools protects their safety as well as the citizens.

“Behind the badges of those who put on this uniform are humans,” Levett said. “They walk out the doors kissing their loved ones, telling them that they love them not knowing if they’re ever going to return back to the house again because they are leaving that home to protect and serve the people of their city, their county and this great state.”

“I want the people to know that we’re out here doing the best that we can, and all we want to do is protect and serve you,” he said.

Since his son’s death, Farris has worked hard to raise awareness of this issue on a national level. He started an advocacy group called Pursuit for Change, which encourages lawmakers to dedicate funding for increased pursuit safety and training,

The group also wants mandatory reporting for all police pursuits and rethinking of the current pursuit policies in hopes of preventing more unnecessary lives lost, like his son Paul’s.

“If we can get changes that will save a life a day, that’s a pretty big deal,” Farris said.

**Help Jon Farris in his efforts to prevent unnecessary police pursuits by signing his Change.org petition here**

Reposted from CBN News

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