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A Pursuit for Change: The Final Chapter

A Pursuit for Change: The Final Chapter

November 28, 2024 admin , , , , , , , No comments

By Jon Farris, Chief Advocate

​PursuitForChange
PaulFarris.org

​November 28, 2024

I ​wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to do this.

But​ I think it​’s time.

I​ am ready.

So yes, it is time.

“Time for what?”, you ask.

Well, time to say goodbye to this advocacy and nearly eighteen years of effort to prevent unnecessary police pursuits.

​Throughout my time as an advocate for safer police pursuits, ​I’ve focused on ​​a​ handful of primary activities​.

  • ​Trying to make sense of the ​May 27, 2007, easily avoidable police chase death of my son, Paul
  • Helping other innocent victims navigate an unimaginable event in their lives
  • Tracking ​​the truly ridiculous number of police pursuits​ occurring daily across the country
  • Educating law enforcement authorities about the risks associated with pursuing for simple traffic ​violations or property crimes
  • Collaborating with news organizations to ​help produce stories highlighting the problems with most pursuits and most pursuit policies
  • Helping to create legislative actions ​aimed at prevent​ing additional innocent lives from being lost in police pursuits
  • Working with​ and supporting companies developing new technologies that will reduce pursuits​

I’m ​proud of what I’ve accomplished, and I hope my efforts will have a lasting impact.​

But   I   am   tired. 

Perhaps I ‘heard’ Paul tell me, “It’s OK to rest, dad”, but even if that is only a wish, I think he’d be OK with this decision.

S​o on this chilly, snowy Thanksgiving Day, I give thanks to everyone who supported me throughout my journey. Each of you helped with an epic “pursuit for change” that will save innocent lives and prevent other families from having to live through unnecessary and preventable police pursuits.

Wishing each of you the inner strength to deal with whatever life tosses at you.

Signing off,

Jon

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So Here I Go Again

October 29, 2024 admin , , , , No comments

So, here I go again

By Jon Farris, Chief Advocate and sad dad
11/2/2024

Paul celebrating Halloween circa 2004

18 Birthdays

November 2, 2024 is our son Paul’s 41st birthday.

But he’s not here, so for the 18th year we won’t celebrate with him. Every parent can understand how much this hurts.  Anyway, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, buddy.

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

As I repeat often and after so many years, many law enforcement agencies continue with incredibly dangerous and deadly chases – the vast majority for simple traffic violations and property crimes – even when the fleeing driver was not endangering anyone at the time the pursuit was started. It defies logic.

The good news, if you can call it that, is that a group of law enforcement professionals and the Justice Department now strongly believe pursuits should be limited.

“… pursuits should take place only when two very specific standards are met”:

(1) A violent crime has been committed and
(2) the suspect poses an imminent threat to commit another violent crime.” (PERF Report here)

Will law enforcement agencies adopt these changes? Only time will tell.

 

Several days after Paul was killed, Boston Globe columnist Margery Eagan wrote the following editorial. I wish more had changed since Paul was killed. I wish Paul’s birthdays were spent together celebrating with our family. I wish…

Police chases not worth risk of tragedy

by Margery Eagan
Boston Globe Columnist
This editorial is no longer posted on the Boston Globe Web site

“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?”

May 31, 2007—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 multimillion-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’s 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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WHDH TV 7NEWS Boston – Jon and Katelyn in the news

WHDH TV 7NEWS Boston – Jon and Katelyn in the news

May 16, 2024 admin , , , No comments

An excellent story by Investigative Reporter Samantha Kummerer. Special thanks to Kate for agreeing to be interviewed.

Link to the video at the bottom of the page.

Screenshot

7 Investigates: Police Chases

BY SAMANTHA KUMMERER

SOMERVILLE, MASS. (WHDH) – A call at 4 a.m. changed Jonathan Farris’ life.

“It was an emergency room hospital doctor who told us that Paul had been killed in a car accident,” Farris said recalling that fatal night in May 2007.

His 23-year-old son was minutes away from his Somerville destination when a black SUV crashed into his taxi. The crash killed Paul and the taxi driver.

“By far the worst thing that could possibly happen to a parent,” Farris said.

Paul was a musician and had just graduated from Tufts University. His girlfriend Katelyn Hoyt was also in the cab and was seriously injured.

“I had a shattered pelvis, broken sternum, broken ribs, broken wrist and a traumatic brain injury,” Hoyt recalled.

She had to relearn to walk and had to slowly gain her memories back.

“I didn’t remember who he was and then I did and then all these memories flooded back; terrible and awesome and a lot of depression. A lot of sadness but a lot of happiness too to have known him and to love him,” Hoyt said remembering Paul.

SEE THE VIDEO AND READ THE REST OF THE STORY HERE

adminWHDH TV 7NEWS Boston – Jon and Katelyn in the news
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89 Mile Pursuit in Milwaukee

89 Mile Pursuit in Milwaukee

March 20, 2024 admin , , , , , No comments

I don’t even have words. The total insanity of numerous police dangerously chasing for EIGHTY-NINE MILES is simply unimaginable. And how the officers in this video attempted to (INCORRECTLY) deploy stop sticks show how little or none) training they have. The fact no officer or citizen was killed is a miracle.

https://www.tmj4.com/news/local-news/89-mile-milwaukee-police-chase-exposes-deficiencies-with-stop-sticks-we-need-better-training-with-this

89-mile Milwaukee police chase exposes deficiencies with stop sticks: ‘We need better training with this’

The longest Milwaukee police chase TMJ4 could find in the past 15 years exposes problems with the effectiveness of that critical tactic.
By: Ben Jordan
Posted at 6:04 PM, Mar 19, 2024 and last updated 6:19 PM, Mar 19, 2024

 

MILWAUKEE — There are no signs of Milwaukee Police pursuits slowing down. For the last three years, the department has averaged about three chases a day.

The primary tool MPD officers can use to physically force a driver to stop is throwing out stop sticks to deflate their tires. The longest Milwaukee police chase TMJ4 could find in the past 15 years exposes problems with the effectiveness of that critical tactic.

It’s a video Milwaukee police didn’t want to give us. Last August, the department wrongfully denied our open records request, claiming the chase from May 17, 2022, was still under investigation more than a year after it happened. We found out from internal affairs that wasn’t true and just recently received the video.

WATCH VIDEO AND READ MORE HERE

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Washington State – A Decision That Will Kill and Injure Innocent Citizens

Washington State – A Decision That Will Kill and Injure Innocent Citizens

March 3, 2024 admin , , , , , No comments

More bad decisions…

Heywood testifies and tense exchanges at hearing on police pursuit initiative

BY: JERRY CORNFIELD

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

Only eight people spoke in the one-hour hearing as Democrats pushed back on supporters’ claims that Initiative 2113 will increase public safety and reduce crime.

 

State lawmakers embarked Wednesday to give police in Washington more leeway to pursue suspected criminals knowing that if they don’t act in the next few days, voters very likely will in November.

A citizen initiative bound for the fall ballot would erase restrictions on when police can engage in vehicle pursuits. Law enforcement groups have said the constraints emboldened criminals and contributed to an increase in crime.

But lawmakers could make the changes themselves by enacting Initiative 2113 before the session ends March 7. They took the first step Wednesday with a hearing in which supporters and opponents disagreed on whether the measure would enhance public safety or put more people at risk.  READ THE REST OF THE STORY HERE

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San Francisco Chronicle’s AMAZINGLY DETAILED Police Pursuit Series and Expose

San Francisco Chronicle’s AMAZINGLY DETAILED Police Pursuit Series and Expose

March 3, 2024 admin , , , , No comments

In February of 2024, after more than a year of exhaustive research and data mining, San Francisco Chronicle staff Jennifer Gollan and Susie Neilson‘s police pursuit investigative series was published.

This is by far the most comprehensive national police pursuit series completed since the 2015 USA Today stories.

Jonathan Farris, Chief Advocate for Pursuit For Change, is honored to have had the opportunity to support Jennifer and the SF Chronicle team with their reporting.

We highly encourage you to read the complete articles at the San Francisco Chronicle’s website.

“The federal government is significantly undercounting chase deaths. Reporters discovered 662 people who died from 2017 through 2021 but were missing from fatal pursuit data published by NHTSA.”

Key takeaways from a San Francisco Chronicle investigation of deadly police pursuits

By Jennifer Gollan, Susie Neilson

 

To report “Fast and Fatal,” Chronicle reporters spent a year identifying and examining fatal chases, finding that at least 3,336 people died in pursuits in the U.S. over the six years ending in 2022. They discovered that police pursuits frequently go wrong, killing an average of nearly two people a day in recent years.

Bystanders and passengers are killed with shocking frequency, and the vast majority of chases involve drivers suspected not of violent crimes, but low-level violations.

Fast and Fatal, the series

Police chases are killing more and more Americans. With lax rules, it’s no accident

The government is undercounting fatal police chases, keeping hundreds of deaths hidden

First-of-its-kind database: Majority of people killed in police chases aren’t the fleeing drivers

Methodology: How we built a national database of fatal police chases

Key takeaways from a San Francisco Chronicle investigation of deadly police pursuits

The investigation, relying on thousands of pages of documents and more than 100 body-worn and dash-camera videos, identified numerous failings that contributed to the carnage. Crucially, there’s no binding national standard governing whether and how police should chase suspects, so officers operate under often permissive rules that vary by department. When people needlessly die or are injured, police officers are rarely held accountable.

Here are five main takeaways from the Chronicle’s investigation:

Despite pledges by law enforcement and lawmakers to reduce deaths and injuries from high-speed pursuits, fatalities have soared. Both 2020 and 2021 became the deadliest on record, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The federal government is significantly undercounting the dead. From 2017 through 2021, NHTSA did not include 662 pursuit deaths identified by the Chronicle in its publicly available chase fatality data, including dozens of cases in which officers deliberately rammed cars while chasing them. Our data shows that nearly 700 people died in 2020 and again in 2021, with more than 500 deaths annually from 2017 through 2019.

Officers routinely start deadly chases that begin with a low-level crime — or no crime at all. Innocent people routinely become collateral damage. The Chronicle examined the circumstances that led police to initiate chases that killed nearly 1,900 people and found that more than 1,550 of them died over traffic infractions, nonviolent crimes or no crime at all. Suspects most often fled for relatively mundane reasons: Their license had been suspended, they were on probation, or they said they feared the police. At least 551 people killed in pursuits from 2017 through 2022 were bystanders, reporters found.

Officers are rarely held accountable, and families struggle to find justice. Even when police officers violate department policy or behave recklessly during fatal pursuits, they typically avoid criminal charges and internal discipline. Under California law, families are limited in their ability to sue police departments involved in fatal chases even if they can prove the pursuing officer violated department policy.

Black people are four times as likely as white people to be killed in police pursuits. As with police shootings and other uses of force, chases disproportionately kill Black Americans. This holds true whether the person is a suspect, a passenger in a fleeing vehicle or a bystander.   READ MORE

By Jennifer Gollan and Susie Neilson

Police chases, glamorized in action films, aired in real time by news helicopters and gamified by “Grand Theft Auto,” have long stirred the American imagination. But pursuits like the one that killed the Nievas siblings now claim nearly two lives a day across the country, and public officials are failing at nearly every level to confront the growing problem, a yearlong Chronicle investigation found.

Operating under often permissive rules that vary by department, and with immunity from serious punishment in most cases, officers routinely launch chases that begin with a low-level crime — or no crime whatsoever — and end with a violent wreck. At least 551 bystanders died in chases over six years, the Chronicle found.

The vast collateral damage has spurred a decades-long push for reform, with law enforcement leaders, regulators and politicians repeatedly promising to reduce the carnage caused by high-speed police pursuits. Yet little has changed — except for the mounting death toll. The federal government, meanwhile, does not even track all the deaths.

The Chronicle spent months doing just that, building a database of fatal pursuits from 2017 through 2022 by filing more than 70 public records requests and examining information from research organizations, local news stories and court records.

Reporters merged this data with records from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to find that at least 3,336 people were killed as a result of police pursuits throughout the U.S. from 2017 through 2022. At least 15 of them were officers. More than 52,600 people were injured from 2017 through 2021, according to government estimates.

“These are completely avoidable deaths,” said Christy Lopez, a Georgetown law professor and former deputy chief in the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice. “Police are killing too many people in pursuits for reasons that are entirely unnecessary and it’s ruining lives. Police never have the right to be the judge and executioner.”  READ MORE

 

The federal agency charged with keeping drivers safe is significantly undercounting the number of people killed in police pursuits, skewing the picture of one of the most dangerous law enforcement activities in America.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is widely viewed as the authoritative source for statistics on pursuit-related fatalities. NHTSA’s data is routinely cited in reports by other federal agencies, researchers, media outlets and organizations that make policy recommendations and guide local police departments on when they should initiate chases.

But NHTSA did not record at least 662 people killed in pursuits from 2017 through 2021 in its publicly released count, the Chronicle found in an investigation.

The Chronicle’s analysis sought to include every person killed as a result of a police chase. NHTSA uses a narrower definition, saying it omits cases in which an officer purposely rams a vehicle or, in certain instances, calls off a chase before a crash, among other exclusions. The newspaper, though, also found hundreds of deaths that were missing from the agency’s pursuit data due to gaps in reporting and other unknown reasons.

With additional deaths identified by the Chronicle, the number of people killed in police pursuits is nearly 30% higher than previously known — a total of at least 3,004 individuals over five years. The dead include fleeing drivers, their passengers, bystanders and police officers.

In a statement, NHTSA (commonly pronounced NITS-uh) said its data on fatal police pursuits was not meant to be comprehensive.  READ THE REST OF THE STORY HERE

 

First-of-its-kind database: Majority of people killed in police chases aren’t the fleeing drivers

An analysis of police pursuit fatality data shows that most of those killed between 2017 and 2022 were passengers or bystanders.

By Susie Neilson, Jennifer Gollan and Janie Haseman

Car chases are one of the most dangerous activities in American policing. But for decades, the federal government has not tracked all deaths tied to pursuits. So the San Francisco Chronicle counted them.

The results are staggering. In our investigation, “Fast and Fatal,” which includes the fullest accounting yet of police pursuit deaths, we found that at least 3,336 people were killed in police vehicle pursuits from 2017 through 2022. At least 1,377 people died in 2020 and 2021, the most recent years for which federal data was available — almost two people a day on average.

The Chronicle built a dataset of these deaths using information from three primary sources: the federal government, private research organizations and our own reporting. The resulting figures are still likely undercounts, as not every chase is the subject of a news story or a lawsuit, two sources the Chronicle used to find cases missing from government records.

Reporters spent a year examining a subset of over 2,000 deaths that included additional details about the causes and circumstances of each chase and the people involved. We found that at least 551 people, or more than 25% of those killed, were bystanders. In addition, the vast majority of these pursuits were initiated over traffic violations and nonviolent crimes such as shoplifting, not serious felonies.

Selected statistics are presented here as well as guidance on how to access the Chronicle’s dataset to look for specific cases.

Where police chases killed people

From 2017 through 2022, at least 3,336 people died in police chases.  READ THE REST OF THE STORY HERE

How the Chronicle built a national database of fatal police chases

By Susie Neilson, Jennifer Gollan

To build the Chronicle’s national dataset of at least 3,336 people killed in police vehicle pursuits from 2017 through 2022, we used information from three primary sources: the federal government, private research organizations and our reporting.

While no government agency counts every police pursuit death, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration comes closest. We used data published by NHTSA via its Fatality Analysis Reporting system (FARS) to produce a list of people killed in police pursuits recorded by the federal agency. Specifically, we drew from the FARS global person, vehicle and accident files, as well as its auxiliary accident file.

In a separate database, we gathered and analyzed information about pursuit deaths from research organizations Mapping Police Violence, Fatal Encounters and IncarcerNation.com, manually reviewing each row entered by researchers to ensure accuracy. READ THE REST OF THE STORY HERE

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City report shows 1 in 5 Milwaukee police chases result in crashes

City report shows 1 in 5 Milwaukee police chases result in crashes

March 3, 2024 admin , , , , , No comments

A recently released Milwaukee police pursuit study sheds light on some alarming trends in chases.

By Ben Jordan, TMJ4 News

Pleased to have worked with Ben on this story…

City report shows 1 in 5 Milwaukee police chases result in crashes

MILWAUKEE — A recently released Milwaukee police pursuit study sheds light on some alarming trends in chases.

The comprehensive analysis breaks down when and why police pursuits often begin and end. The top thing that sticks out to some of those who have suffered the consequences is how often chases result in crashes.

It’s a polarizing issue in Milwaukee: Whether or not police should chase reckless or mobile drug traffickers.

Those two categories account for about 70 percent of Milwaukee chases. They’ve caused pursuit numbers to skyrocket ever since the Fire and Police Commission forced the policy shift in 2017.

In each of the last three years, M.P.D. has chased more than 1,000 drivers annually.

“My biggest issue with the policy is it’s impossible to police that,” Jonathan Farris said. “What is reckless? Reckless is a legal term, but it’s also a term that you and I have to decide what’s reckless.”

Farris lost his son in a police pursuit more than a decade ago. He was an innocent victim in the back of a taxi.

“Losing a child is just impossible to explain,” he said. “It’s a pain that doesn’t go away.”

Farris has become one of the biggest advocates in the country, calling o law enforcement agencies like M.P.D. to only pursue when there’s an imminent threat of danger such as a violent felony.

“It’s changed my life and it’s gotten me into what can I do to save other people from having to live through this situation,” he said.

READ/WATCH the rest of the story at TMJ4 Milwaukee

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Monona’s police pursuit policy is perilous, says father who lost son

Monona’s police pursuit policy is perilous, says father who lost son

March 3, 2024 admin , , , No comments

OpEd in the Wisconsin State Journal, Sunday 3/3/2024

https://madison.com/opinion/column/mononas-police-pursuit-policy-is-perilous-says-father-who-lost-son/article_faba8318-d50c-11ee-bd92-cbcbe24829a5.html

Monona’s police pursuit policy is perilous, says father who lost son

Monona's police pursuit policy is perilous, says father who lost son

As a father who lost his 23-year-old son in a crash caused by a driver fleeing police, I disagree with Monona Acting-Mayor Doug Wood’s recent column, “Monona’s policy for police pursuits is appropriate.”

Wood’s arguments for loosening Monona’s police pursuit policies mirror those of other city politicians who listen to their most vocal citizens and sometimes unhappy police officers. All these people, it seems, believe the only way to solve crime is to chase anyone who flees an attempted police stop, regardless of the circumstances.

Woods is apparently of the “chase till the wheels fall off” school of thought. Sadly, this attitude is still alive and well in many cities and police departments across the United States. As a result, more innocent citizens and police officers are injured and killed in pursuits than is expected or reasonable.

If an officer observes a violent felony suspect, and that individual still represents an imminent danger to citizens, then arresting them is critical, and a pursuit is very likely justified.

But if a driver flees and the officer has no idea why, a dangerous high-speed pursuit is not the best course of action.

Yet this is what the Monona Police Department appears to be doing. Creating dangerous situations with the potential to injure or kill citizens for pursuits of those fleeing from misdemeanor violations, property felonies (such as a car theft or stealing diapers from Walmart) or a non-violent felony is insane.

Wood describes in his column what the officers must do before they begin a chase: “The Monona policy requires officers to take into account a minimum of 12 factors in deciding to initiate and continue a pursuit.”

In 2007, a driver fleeing an officer for a misdemeanor violation crashed into and killed my son, Paul, who was riding in a cab. Since then, virtually all officers and police executives I’ve spoken with say that an officer’s decision to pursue is virtually instantaneous. So having a notebook full of “reasons that I can chase” doesn’t generally come into play before the pursuit is instigated.

Wood also mentioned the Department of Justice-funded Police Executive Research Forum report on vehicular pursuits. Wood simplified one partial sentence from the 144-page document about “armed and dangerous” individuals. He quotes the report stating that pursuits should not be initiated “even if the officer believes an individual in the suspect’s vehicle is armed and dangerous.”

Ignoring armed and dangerous criminals is certainly not what the report states nor is it the intent of its suggested pursuit policy language.

One of many detailed references to “armed and dangerous” from the report includes recognition of the Virginia Beach Police Department’s strong pursuit policy: “A pursuit may be initiated based upon a reasonable belief: 1. At the time the pursuit is initiated that the occupant(s) of the vehicle are 1) armed and dangerous or 2) have committed or attempted to commit a violent felony … .”

The report, written over a year and extensively researched by many knowledgeable law enforcement executives and other police pursuit experts, recommended the following: “… pursuits should take place only when two very specific standards are met: (1) A violent crime has been committed and (2) the suspect poses an imminent threat to commit another violent crime.”

I don’t know whether Wood is the driving force behind the Monona Police Department’s revised and weak pursuit policy or is simply supporting his new chief. Either way, Monona has moved in a perilous direction, and it is a virtual certainty that more people will be killed and injured because of unnecessary chases.

Farris, of Madison, founded the advocacy group Pursuit for Change: pursuitforchange.org.

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RECKLESS PURSUITS – Kansas City Star 2024 Series

RECKLESS PURSUITS – Kansas City Star 2024 Series

January 20, 2024 admin , , , , , No comments

I’ve had the honor of working with reporter Katie Moore at the Kansas City Star over the past several months. She and Glenn Rice have published the first in a series of eight, relating to out of control police chases in the Kansas City metro area.  This particular article is truly EXCELLENT.  Great detail, heartfelt, and really well written.

I always appreciate the opportunity to support the media and I’m glad to have been involved here.

Jonathan Farris – Chief Advocate, Pursuit For Change


Image KC Star

Police chases in KC metro kill bystanders. One department chases more than any other

 

BY KATIE MOORE AND GLENN E. RICE
UPDATED JANUARY 19, 2024 12:13 PM

 

When Jake Monteer was 12, his father let him take his motorcycle for a spin near their home on Spruce Street in Bates City.

Jake climbed on, confident that he could keep it upright. And he was off. In some ways, he never looked back.

Growing up in the small town just east of Kansas City, Jake’s passion for motorcycles only grew. As an adult, he learned how to fix bikes and rode from daylight to dark.

“I think he just liked feeling free,” his father, David Monteer, said.

Jake Monteer was 41 years old last March, when he and a friend hopped on his motorcycle with a pizza to share. They were driving in Independence when a Jeep, fleeing police in a high-speed chase, hit them.

They both died.

“It feels like part of your heart is ripped out,” David Monteer said during an interview with The Star.

As weeks and months passed, he and his wife Terri Monteer learned more about the circumstances of their son’s death. They found out that police were chasing the Jeep because it was stolen and not for a more serious crime. That one of the officers in the chase had been involved in a previous pursuit that left four people dead. And that it was when police laid down stop sticks in front of the Jeep that it lost control and hit their son’s motorcycle.

“Since when is a stolen vehicle worth somebody’s life?” David Monteer said. “That’s my question.” It’s a question other families have asked after previous high-speed pursuits by Independence police that seem to repeat the same pattern again and again.

Read the rest of the story at the Kansas City Star website – HERE

A few stats from their research – also posted in the KC Star article.  Disturbing to say the least:

Police Chase Findings Reporters interviewed local police leaders, national law enforcement experts, academics who study chases and advocates for safer policing. The results of their reporting are being published in an eight-part series.

  • In 2022, more than 1,200 police chases took place in the Kansas City metro, resulting in over 150 crashes and 51 injuries. Independence accounted for 33% of those injuries.
  • The Independence Police Department initiated 330 chases in 2022. Kansas City, which is four times larger in population but has a more restrictive policy governing police chases, recorded 98.
  • Over the past six years, eight people have died in chases involving Independence officers. Six were innocent bystanders, one was a passenger in a fleeing car and one was a fleeing driver.
  • According to a report by the Police Executive Research Forum, 70% of police departments placed narrow restrictions on when a chase is warranted. In the Kansas City metro, the rate is about 56%.
  • Where data was available, 17% of the chases violated department policy.

 

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BAD OUTCOMES: Monona’s Poor Decision to Weaken Police Pursuit Policy in 2022 Results in Unnecessary Deaths

BAD OUTCOMES: Monona’s Poor Decision to Weaken Police Pursuit Policy in 2022 Results in Unnecessary Deaths

January 7, 2024 admin , , , , , No comments

by Jon Farris, Chief Advocate, Pursuit For Change

BAD OUTCOMES: Monona’s Poor Decision to Weaken Police Pursuit Policy in 2022 Results in Unnecessary Deaths

During the past several weeks, police chases in Monona have taken an even more horrible and deadly turn. READ MORE HERE

But this should not be unexpected.

“In November 2022, the Monona City Council approved a change to the policy governing when police can engage in vehicle pursuits, removing the requirement that the people being pursued must be suspected of having committed a violent felony or that they were about to commit one.” The new policy included a dozen factors for officers to consider when deciding whether to pursue a fleeing vehicle, including “whether the suspect represents a serious threat to public safety,” “the safety of the public in the area of the pursuit” and whether the person fleeing has been identified and could be safely arrested later. That expanded a previous policy, adopted in 2020, in which the City Council changed the requirement that police have “reasonable suspicion” that a violent felony had been committed to instead permit pursuits if police had “probable cause” that such a crime had occurred.” READ MORE HERE

This decision, as anyone with even an ounce of common sense would know, has resulted in more pursuits, crashes, injuries and deaths. READ MORE HERE

And let’s talk very briefly about leadership. Brian Chaney has been Monona’s police chief for only a short while, and he came from the Madison PD, which maintains a safe pursuit policy. However Chief Chaney’s recent comment mimics the bluster made by Milwaukee’s Chief in 2018, after they opened up virtually unlimited pursuits.
‘We don’t play,’ Monona police chief warns criminals after two chases.

This is not what leadership is about. What message does this send to his officers? And it definitely provides NO VALUE in reducing crime. Criminals do not open the newspaper to see what the Chief is saying, nor do they care even if they do hear it or read it online. Get real folks.

However, off the cuff comments like this can embolden Monona police officers to make poor decisions, likely not made under prior leadership or when following stricter engagement and pursuit policies.

If all of this seems like déjà vu, it should, because Monona is heading in the same direction as the Milwaukee Police Department.

BAD DECISIONS. BAD OUTCOMES. PEOPLE DYING.

In 2017, the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission FORCED the Chief to loosen what was one of the better police pursuit policies in the United States. And every moment since then has resulted in horrible outcomes, including deaths of innocent citizens and police officers.

THIS IS WHERE MONONA IS HEADING. MOPD AND THE MONONA CITY COUNCIL NEED TO TAKE A DEEP BREATH AND REASSESS THEIR CURRENT, WEAK PURSUIT POLICY THAT EXPOSES CITIZENS AND OFFICERS TO UNNECESSARY INJURIES AND DEATH.

TMJ4 News

Milwaukee Police chases have skyrocketed in the last five years. READ STORY HERE

Here’s an article we wrote, showing results from Milwaukee’s pursuit police change. And as in virtually every city, when policies are weakened, more citizens die…

Opinion: Milwaukee Gambles with Citizen and Officer Lives. December 10, 2018
On Thursday, December 6, the Milwaukee Police Department announced that carjackings were down and @Fox6Now Milwaukee  reported that “police credit change in pursuit policy for dramatic decrease in carjackings.” This is a story about the City of Milwaukee and their quest to reduce joyriding and stolen vehicles. It is an honorable mission, but they are using a very deadly battle plan … Continue reading

 

So what do truly experienced and more rational law enforcement professionals have to say about police chases? NHTSA and the Department of Justice’s COPS Office asked the Police Executives Research Forum (PERF) to develop vehicular pursuit guidelines for police departments and sheriffs’ offices. They will tell you that Monona is doing it wrong…

PERF REPORT SUMMARY:

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.

They 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.  Links to everything about the PERF Report is in an earlier published article HERE.

Chief Chaney and the Monona City Council need to strongly reassess the current pursuit policy. If they continue with no changes, Monona residents can expect to see MORE DEATHS, MORE INJURIES, LAWSUITS WITH MILLION-DOLLAR JUDGEMENTS AGAINST THE CITY, MORE EXPENSIVE INSURANCE PREMIUMS FOR THE CITY and more…

I told the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission this exact same message in 2017, but they didn’t listen. And in 2018 a police officer was killed, several innocent citizens were killed, and the lawsuits commenced.  All of these outcomes and problems continue unabated in 2024.

I truly hope Monona makes the smart decision…

adminBAD OUTCOMES: Monona’s Poor Decision to Weaken Police Pursuit Policy in 2022 Results in Unnecessary Deaths
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Sometimes Screams Are Heard

Sometimes Screams Are Heard

September 25, 2023 admin , , , , , , No comments

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

 

adminSometimes Screams Are Heard
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Milwaukee Police Department’s in the News – and not in a good way.

August 2, 2023 admin , , , , , No comments

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.
by Jonah Chester / Wisconsin Watch and WPR
 Why you can trust Wisconsin Watch
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

Sixteen Years. May 27, 2023

May 26, 2023 admin , , , , No comments

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 Farris‘ and 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?

Are YOU Ready To Help Save Lives?

December 1, 2022 admin , , , No comments

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

 

adminAre YOU Ready To Help Save Lives?
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‘How many people have to lose their lives?’

October 16, 2022 admin No comments

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

by:

Posted: Updated:

https://www.ourquadcities.com/news/local-news/how-many-people-have-to-lose-their-lives-crash-victims-mother-speaks-out/

Jennifer Myrick, the mother of Alecia Garcia, has decided to speak out about her views on police-pursuit policies.

Alecia Garcia was in a car involved in a pursuit with Iowa State Troopers on Sept. 21. Garcia died at the end of that police chase in Davenport.

Iowa State Police say the chase started because they spotted the car without registration.

After a quick chase, the car eventually hit an embankment on Eastern Avenue and rolled several times. Besides Garcia, there was another person in the vehicle. Both were transported to a nearby hospital with serious injuries.

Read and see the rest of the story HERE.

 

Photo courtesy of @WHBF

admin‘How many people have to lose their lives?’
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More Milwaukee Police Pursuit-Related News August 2019

More Milwaukee Police Pursuit-Related News August 2019

August 30, 2019 admin , , , No comments

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
By: Katie Crowther

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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