All posts tagged: #PursuitAlert

Sometimes Screams Are Heard

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Sometimes screams aren’t heard.

I suspect that was the case when I received a call at 4:00 AM telling me my son Paul had been killed in a car crash. That was on May 27, 2007, a lifetime ago.

And when, shortly later, I learned that his death was caused because of a totally unnecessary, minor traffic violation police pursuit, my screams increased.

And so came my entrance into the advocacy to change mindsets regarding the necessity of police pursuits for anything other than for violent felonies. I’ve been “screaming” ever since.

Well, sometimes your screams are heard. And sometimes those who hear DO want to help.

Below are links to a recently completed study and comprehensive review of police pursuits. This project was supported, in whole or in part, by federal award number 2020-CK-WX-K035 awarded to the Police Executive Research Forum by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. The publication is distributed by the U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in the interest of information exchange

So what will become of this report and these excellent recommendations?  I don’t know, but I’ll keep screaming until legislators and law enforcement hears that chasing until the wheels fall off is both stupid and danger, and changes are necessary.

I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

Jonathan Farris
Chief Advocate
Pursuit For Change

@chester_jonah @jennifergollan @andreeball @katie_reports #PursuitForChange @PursuitResponse @StarChaseLLC #PursuitReductionTech @FAACsimulators @PursuitAlert @SpartanTekOrg @OnStar @benjordan3


September 23, 2023

Police pursuit policies should be more restrictive to save lives

By Chuck Wexler, Executive Director, PERF
COMPLETE LETTER IS HERE:
https://www.policeforum.org/trending23sep23

PERF members,

Vehicle pursuits are part of what distinguishes the police from any other occupation. Hollywood has recognized this and featured pursuits in many films. Growing up, I remember watching Gene Hackman commandeer a citizen’s car and take it on a harrowing chase as an NYPD detective in “The French Connection.” But, as you all know, the reality of police pursuits is anything but glamorous.

Earlier this week you received PERF’s new report on pursuits. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), fatal crashes involving police pursuits kill more than one person every day; 525 people were killed in 2021, and 545 were killed in 2020. According to Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) data from 2009 to 2013, 21 percent of those seriously injured in police pursuits are individuals not involved in the pursuit….

 

…The report contains 65 recommendations across six topics: agency philosophy and policy standards; the role of a supervisor; pursuit interventions, pursuit alternatives, and technology for managing risks; post-pursuit reporting; training; and community engagement. We recommend that agencies only pursue suspects when two conditions are met: (1) a violent crime has been committed and (2) the suspect poses an imminent threat to commit another violent crime. 

The rest of the story:  https://www.policeforum.org/trending23sep23

The Complete Report:  https://portal.cops.usdoj.gov/resourcecenter/content.ashx/cops-r1134-pub.pdf

 

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Milwaukee Police Department’s in the News – and not in a good way.

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And the beat goes on…

Police chases in Milwaukee surge in recent years

I truly appreciate Jonah’s comments in this email:

On Aug 2, 2023, at 6:20 AM, Jonah wrote:
Hi Jonathan,
As promised, here’s a link to the story: 
Thank you again for agreeing to chat with me for the story, your expertise and perspective was extremely valuable.
And a HUGE thank you for alerting me to the flaws in police pursuit reporting data. After our conversation, I began taking a closer look at the injury reports I’d received through my record requests and noticed several missing deadly pursuits. I reached out to the MPD for comment on those, and it turns out they initially gave me a bad batch of data which under-reported third party deaths and injuries and over-reported police injuries. They issued updated and corrected numbers just a few hours before we were set to publish. I probably wouldn’t have caught those flaws if it weren’t for your comments on faulty data.
-Jonah
@chester_jonah @jennifergollan @andreeball @katie_reports #PursuitForChange @PursuitResponse @StarChaseLLC #PursuitReductionTech @FAACsimulators @PursuitAlert @SpartanTekOrg @OnStar

Hot pursuit: Milwaukee police chases now top 1,000 per year. Some prove deadly.

Milwaukee sees a surge in police pursuits in years since loosening policy to target reckless drivers. Critics say the trend makes streets more dangerous.
Reading Time: 10 minutesNews414 is a service journalism collaboration between Wisconsin Watch and Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service that addresses the specific issues, interests, perspectives and information needs identified by residents of central city Milwaukee neighborhoods. Learn more at our website or sign up for our texting service her

  • Correction: A previous version of this story included an incorrect figure for the number of fatal Milwaukee police pursuits in 2023 and incorrect percentages of pursuits ending in injuries from 2007 to 2022.

At 1:06 a.m. on Aug. 1, 2019, Le’Quon McCoy was driving through a North Side Milwaukee intersection when the driver of a stolen Buick Encore ran a flashing red light and crashed into McCoy’s Jeep Renegade.

The speeding driver, who was fleeing police, hit McCoy’s Jeep so hard that it bounced off a tree on one side of the road and into a parked car on the other side. McCoy, 19, died at the scene.

“He got off work around like 9 or 10 at night. He stopped here to see me,” his mother, Antoinette Broomfield recalled.   READ THE REST OF THE STORY HERE

adminMilwaukee Police Department’s in the News – and not in a good way.
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Sixteen Years. May 27, 2023

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16 Years

by Jon Farris

16 YEARS.  192 MONTHS.  5,843 DAYS.  140,253 HOURS.  8,415,187 MINUTES.  504,911,220 SECONDS

It simply doesn’t matter how you measure it.

May 27, 2023 is the 16th anniversary of Paul Farrisand Walid Chahine’s deaths, and my heart has never been the same.

They were killed by a man fleeing police (#PoliceChase) – running through the dark and densely packed streets of Somerville, MA. The fleeing man was driving at 75 miles per hour, pursued by a State Trooper, when he broadsided the taxi driven by Walid and in which Paul and Katelyn were passengers. Paul was thrown from the taxi and died immediately. Walid was grievously injured and passed a week later. Kate survived, hospitalized for months, with doctors saying it was a miracle she lived.

Fast forward to April, 2023. The man who stole Paul and Walid’s lives walked away from prison, free but on parole for the next 15 years.  I hope, with all of my heart, that he doesn’t drive again and doesn’t endanger your sons, daughters, moms, dads, best friends or others…

 

We miss you, Paul.

Dad


Random thoughts…

Music was a huge part of Paul’s life, as it is for me.  I dream that Paul is still playing and singing his music – in a better place.

                                     Paul Farris singing – circa 2005

I think if Paul was still here that he’d be horrified by the death and destruction in Ukraine. Here’s a song by his college band, theMark.

theMark “Faith in Flight”. LISTEN HERE

I’m so tired
Of guns on my mind
Lives fall away
When shells and tempers fly.

And if I should die
When stars and stripes collide
And every soldier loses faith in flight.

Stay home next time
And keep your shoes tied.


Many different songs remind me of Paul. And many bring tears even after so long. Two are linked here.

Riverside “Towards the Blue Horizon”

Where are you now my friend?
I miss those days
I hope they take good care of you there
And you can still play the guitar
And sing your songs
I just miss those days
And miss you so
Wish I could be strong
When darkness comes

Soen “River”

All these words that I left unspoken
I will say when I meet you again.
I see you but I can’t feel your presence
I feel you but you’re fading away.

adminSixteen Years. May 27, 2023
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Are YOU Ready To Help Save Lives?

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December 1, 2022:  Jon Farris, Chief Advocate of Pursuit For Change, writes about a technology crowdfunding pledge opportunity. Please take a moment to learn about an opportunity that will most certainly lead to fewer policy-pursuit related injuries and deaths.

 

Dear friends,

During the past 15+ years, since the death of my son Paul, I have advocated for stricter policies and smarter laws surrounding police pursuits. Additionally, I have supported companies that have developed pursuit reduction and safety technology tools to reduce chases and help save innocent lives.

Today I’d like to introduce you to one of those companies, PursuitAlert.

Tim Morgan is a cofounder and CEO of Pursuit Alert. Tim has spent nearly forty years working with and for law enforcement, serving twenty-two as a Pickens County SC Assistant Sheriff. I have known Tim since 2016 and I know how committed he is to saving lives.

The PursuitAlert Digital Siren is a patented warning system that allows law enforcement to send real-time, critical messaging to your smartphone when you are near any emergency response including dangerous police pursuits.

WHY am I reaching out today? The PursuitAlert team needs support to expand their system and network. They have recently developed relationships with Waze Maps, Apple Maps, Stelantis passenger vehicles (Chrysler, Jeep) and have just signed an NDA for discussions with Amazon. And even more vehicles and smartphone apps will be added in the near future.

So I’m asking you to consider an investment PLEDGE. This website (https://pursuitalertdigitalsiren.sppx.io/) provides an overview of what the PursuitAlert team is proposing and has planned for the company going forward. This is a “Testing the Waters” pledge. The choice is yours, but I do hope you’ll seriously consider signing up to support PursuitAlert.

Thanks,

Jon

 

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‘How many people have to lose their lives?’

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I could not have said this any better.

Jennifer Myrick, the mother of Alecia Garcia who was killed in a #PoliceChase, speaks out about police-pursuit policies. Our hearts go out to her for the loss of her daughter

‘How many people have to lose their lives?’ Crash victim’s mother speaks out

 

Photo courtesy of @WHBF

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More Milwaukee Police Pursuit-Related News August 2019

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Jon Farris speaks with Anchor/Reporter Katie Crowther (https://buff.ly/2PAzOim) to discuss #PursuitAlert technology and #Milwaukee #PoliceChases. This is a short story that Katie and Jon hope to follow-up on in a future story. #PursuitResponse

 

Creators of new app hope police departments will get on board

Posted: 7:36 PM, Aug 28, 2019
Updated: 7:36 PM, Aug 28, 2019

A father’s plea for change, after losing his son, is now strengthened by new technology on the market.

A safety app was just created with the hope of saving more innocent people from becoming victims in high-speed police chases.

Paul Farris, 23, of Wisconsin died when the taxi he was in was hit during a high-speed chase in Massachusetts. A state trooper was pursuing a driver for a traffic violation. Farris was an innocent victim caught in the wrong place at the wrong time…

READ MORE AND WATCH THE VIDEO HERE:  https://www.tmj4.com/news/local-news/creators-of-new-app-hope-police-departments-will-get-on-board

 

adminMore Milwaukee Police Pursuit-Related News August 2019
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