All posts tagged: #PursuitForChange

Houston Chronicle Police Pursuit Investigative Series – 2023

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For many months I’ve been working with , an investigative reporter at the Houston Chronicle. She and other HC staff have done / and continue to dig into Houston’s HORRIBLE #PoliceChase actions and outcomes.

This has turned into a multi-part series which YOU REALLY NEED TO READ – their findings are amazing and frightening.

Here are the first 4 stories. I’ll continue to post as they publish more.

Jonathan Farris, Chief Advocate, Pursuit For Change
11/2/2023

@andreeball @houstonchron


HPD’s loose policy enables rise in high-speed chases that killed bystanders

High-speed chases launched by the Houston Police Department increased 47 percent over a five-year period, killing more than two dozen people and injuring hundreds more, a Houston Chronicle investigation has found.

Between Jan. 1, 2018, and Dec. 31, 2022, officers engaged in 6,303 chases. Twenty-seven people died during those pursuits, and at least 740 people were injured.

At least 240 of the dead and injured were bystanders, including a man who’d just left a grocery store, a man walking to get a haircut and a Lyft driver with a passenger in his car.

To document the toll high-speed chases are taking citywide, the Chronicle analyzed more than 5,000 post-pursuit forms filled out by officers, filed a dozen-plus public information requests and spoke to family members of bystanders who were killed.

Read the rest of the story is here:

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/investigations/article/houston-police-chase-deaths-18329110.php?utm_source=marketing&utm_medium=copy-url-link&utm_campaign=article-share&hash=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuaG91c3RvbmNocm9uaWNsZS5jb20vbmV3cy9pbnZlc3RpZ2F0aW9ucy9hcnRpY2xlL2hvdXN0b24tcG9saWNlLWNoYXNlLWRlYXRocy0xODMyOTExMC5waHA=&time=MTY5ODA3ODEzNzA3MA==&rid=YjgxMmY3ZWMtZmY0OS00N2E5LWJiNGItOTYyOTc4ZmIxMzVi&sharecount=MQ==


HPD to halt police chases for certain offenses in major change aimed at safety

Members of the Houston Police Department and Houston Fire Departments work the scene of a fatal accident after a police chase involving two suspect in a stolen vehicle ended at Martin Luther King Boulavard and Ben Fleet Street, Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023, in Houston. Gloria Collins, the mother of an HPD sergeant, died. Two others were injured. 

Members of the Houston Police Department and Houston Fire Departments work the scene of a fatal accident after a police chase involving two suspect in a stolen vehicle ended at Martin Luther King Boulavard and Ben Fleet Street, Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023, in Houston. Gloria Collins, the mother of an HPD sergeant, died. Two others were injured. 

Houston’s police chief unveiled sweeping changes to the department’s vehicle pursuit policy Thursday that might have prevented hundreds of crashes, had those changes been made earlier.

From 2018 through 2022, eight people died and 137 were injured after officers chased 2,200 drivers suspected only of traffic violations or failing to stop for police. Now, those practices are banned, Chief Troy Finner said.

“We’ve got to do even better, and the system as a whole has to do better,” the chief said.

Under the new policy, officers can no longer chase drivers suspected of Class C offenses, such as theft and minor traffic violations — the leading cause of HPD vehicle pursuits in the past five years, a Houston Chronicle analysis found.

HPD will also stop chasing people suspected of having traffic or nonviolent misdemeanor warrants, although supervisors can continue to approve chases of suspects in ongoing investigations and people driving vehicles with stolen license plates, no plates or plates that belong on another vehicle.

Read the rest of the story is here:

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/crime/article/police-chase-announcement-18366097.php?utm_source=marketing&utm_medium=copy-url-link&utm_campaign=article-share&hash=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuaG91c3RvbmNocm9uaWNsZS5jb20vbmV3cy9ob3VzdG9uLXRleGFzL2NyaW1lL2FydGljbGUvcG9saWNlLWNoYXNlLWFubm91bmNlbWVudC0xODM2NjA5Ny5waHA=&time=MTY5ODA3ODIxNzgwMA==&rid=YjgxMmY3ZWMtZmY0OS00N2E5LWJiNGItOTYyOTc4ZmIxMzVi&sharecount=Mg==


HPD sees high-speed chases plunge 40% after Chief Troy Finner implements tighter policies

High-speed chases initiated by Houston police have dropped 40 percent in the month since Police Chief Troy Finner tightened pursuit policies, the chief told members of the City Council on Wednesday.

Chase-related collisions also dropped 35 percent this month compared with the monthly average so far this year, Finner said.

Finner said the department was “forced to change the policy” due to a steady increase of pursuits and pursuit-related crashes, injuries and deaths over the past year. So far in October, there have been 46 pursuits reported, according to data provided to council members. There were 132 pursuits in August, the last full month before the changes were made Sept. 14.

“In this city, violent individuals commit crimes in those vehicles,” he said. “So we can’t just abandon the pursuits. But we are working smart.”

Finner said the new policy has also led to more successful pursuit terminations. Over the past month alone, pursuits terminations have increased by 35 percent, he said.

Read the rest of the story is here:

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/investigations/article/houston-police-see-high-speed-chases-plummet-40-18432135.php?utm_source=marketing&utm_medium=copy-url-link&utm_campaign=article-share&hash=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuaG91c3RvbmNocm9uaWNsZS5jb20vbmV3cy9pbnZlc3RpZ2F0aW9ucy9hcnRpY2xlL2hvdXN0b24tcG9saWNlLXNlZS1oaWdoLXNwZWVkLWNoYXNlcy1wbHVtbWV0LTQwLTE4NDMyMTM1LnBocA==&time=MTY5ODA3ODM2OTk1NQ==&rid=YjgxMmY3ZWMtZmY0OS00N2E5LWJiNGItOTYyOTc4ZmIxMzVi&sharecount=Mw==


A police chase plowed over an innocent bystander. Scorched and mangled, now he wants answers.

Courtney Lane lifted his heavy eyelids for the first time in two days.
He slowly scanned the room for clues. Medical bed. Clear tubes in his veins. Fresh white bandages bulged from his arms, legs, shoulder and chest.

He pushed through the haze of painkillers as memories of the crash returned in fragments.

Sitting in traffic on his motorcycle on Feb. 21, waiting for the light to change. The banging of metal. The flaming gas tank. The Honda Accord dragging him 150 feet up North Houston Rosslyn Road as it bashed its way through traffic, with police in pursuit.

The hovering helicopter. The anxious medic. Then nothing.

Read the rest of the story is here:

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/investigations/article/houston-police-chases-courtney-lane-18407092.php?utm_source=marketing&utm_medium=copy-url-link&utm_campaign=article-share&hash=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuaG91c3RvbmNocm9uaWNsZS5jb20vbmV3cy9pbnZlc3RpZ2F0aW9ucy9hcnRpY2xlL2hvdXN0b24tcG9saWNlLWNoYXNlcy1jb3VydG5leS1sYW5lLTE4NDA3MDkyLnBocA==&time=MTY5ODg1MTM3NTcyMw==&rid=YjgxMmY3ZWMtZmY0OS00N2E5LWJiNGItOTYyOTc4ZmIxMzVi&sharecount=NQ==


 

 

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2023. Seventeen Birthdays

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November 2, 2023
17 Birthdays

Here we go again. Another year, another birthday.  Had Paul lived he’d be celebrating his 40th birthday today.  Today is the 17th missed birthday since his death as an innocent in a #PoliceChase.

This year he’d have so many thoughts on what’s happening around the world. In 2006 Paul traveled with a group of students to visit Israel. He was introduced to their history, their sights, their people and so much more. It was a wonderful experience. 

   

So I wonder about Paul’s reactions to today’s events
  • to the heinous Hamas extremist attacks on and killings of innocent Israelis
  • to Israel’s actions to find and exterminate extremist Hamas members
  • to the deaths of the innocent, non-combatant Palestinians
  • to the deaths, absolute horrors and atrocities in Ukraine
  • to the hate – seemingly spewing everywhere – across our country and across this troubled world  
For sure he’d be appalled and incredibly sad. And perhaps he’d be engaged in meaningful efforts to enact positive changes.  I’d like to think so.
Pray for the killing to stop and dream for the miracle of peace. 
I miss you Paul – today on your birthday, and every other day – forever.
         – Jonathan Farris, Dad and Chief Advocate of Pursuit For Change
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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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16 Missed Birthdays

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16 Missed Birthdays

By Jon Farris – Paul Farris’ dad and Chief Advocate, Pursuit For Change

 

Every year on November 2nd I post a note in remembrance of my son, Paul, about the birthday celebrations we’ve missed since his senseless death. This will be the 16th one.

It’s easy for me to remember Paul and the many happy birthdays we spent with family and friends. Some days it seems as though these were only yesterday, but no…

We miss you buddy. So very much.

 

Whenever I need a dose of inner peace, I listen to Paul’s music. You can hear all of Paul’s music at PaulFarris.org/Music.
And here’s Faith in Flight, from theMark‘s album The Catastrophist, with Alec O. playing guitar: https://paulfarris.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/04-Faith-in-Flight.mp3

Paul & Alec. theMark. Tuft’s Spring Fling 2004

 

Paul Farris birthday 1993

Paul 2004

Paul 2003

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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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Man Arrested for Police Pursuit after $20 Walmart Theft

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There is simply NO REASON for law enforcement to be elevating a Walmart theft into a DANGEROUS POLICE PURSUIT the endangers so many innocent citizens.  

Multiple law enforcement agencies were involved with this situation. Thankfully and luckily, no bystanders were injured or killed. Law enforcement agencies must create smarter and stricter pursuit policies so this just does not happen.

 


41-Year-Old Arrested for High-Speed Chase after 20 Dollar Walmart Theft

 

A high-speed chase occurred after a theft at Walmart around 2 pm on Monday.

According to early reports a call from Walmart to a person who had stolen several items including a hat, deodorant, and other small items with the possibility of leaving the store. Associates attempted to stop the suspect but he pushed through running out of the store.

He got into a White Sonata that was waiting for him and left the parking lot that’s when the sheriff’s department attempted to stop the vehicle in front of Taco Bell on US-23 but instead of stopping he put his foot on the gas.

Read the rest of the article HERE.

 

 

 

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Dangerous rush-hour police crash raises concerns (Fox31 Colorado)

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Dangerous rush-hour police crash raises concerns

 

by: 
Posted: Updated: 

DENVER (KDVR) — Questions have arisen about the Denver Police Department’s pursuit policy after officers chased and stopped a car on Interstate 225, causing a high-speed crash in rush hour traffic.

The suspect had been involved in a Denver shooting hours earlier at the Bass Pro Shops on Northfield Boulevard.

Dominique Hall and her family were stuck in traffic when the crash happened next to them near I-225 and Colfax Avenue.

“All of a sudden out of nowhere, we hear tires screeching and a loud bang. Then, we see the car go past us all. Shrapnel from both cars the police SUV and the suspect’s car was just everywhere,” said Hall, of Aurora.

See the video and read the rest of the story HERE.

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Pursuit policy questioned after deaths in I-25 crash

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“Jonathan Farris, an advocate for the nonprofit Pursuit for Change, an organization that pushes for safer police pursuit policies, called the Santa Fe Police Department’s chase policy vague and said it doesn’t give much direction for when an officer should give up on a pursuit.”

Pursuit policy questioned after deaths in I-25 crash

By Sean P. Thomas sthomas@sfnewmexican.com Mar 19, 2022 Updated Mar 20, 2022

Jeannine Jaramillo’s alleged crimes in Santa Fe and Cibola counties within months of each other are strikingly similar: stolen cars, reckless chases and claims of a kidnapper or male aggressor who doesn’t appear to exist.

The outcomes widely differ.

When Jaramillo was suspected of leading Cibola County deputies into oncoming traffic at high speeds in September 2021, they called off the pursuit. They later found the stolen vehicle at a residence and took Jaramillo into custody, according to records of the case.

READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE HERE

 


FBI tactical squad members approach a command center March 2 on Interstate 25 near Old Pecos Trail after a Santa Fe police officer and another motorist, a retired firefighter, were killed in a multiple-car crash during a police pursuit.   Jim Weber/New Mexican file photo

UPDATE:

We have asked Mr. Thomas to post one correction. This statement “Farris, whose son Paul Farris was killed in 2007 when a cab he was riding in was struck by a Massachusetts state trooper chasing a driver suspected of a traffic violation…” is incorrect.  In actuality, the cab Paul was riding in was struck by the fleeing driver’s SUV, and not by the Trooper.  An important clarification.

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Cost of the chase: An examination of police pursuits

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An excellent article focusing on pursuits, law enforcement’s actions, and the death of yet another innocent victim.

Cost of the chase: An examination of police pursuits

by: Jeff Keeling, Ashley Sharp

Posted: Feb 23, 2022 / 04:32 PM EST
Updated: Feb 23, 2022 / 04:37 PM EST

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) – Just after midnight Dec. 4, a 22-mile police pursuit from Tusculum to Johnson City, Tenn. ended in the death of A Pearson, a completely uninvolved motorist.

A car driven by Christian Morrow and pursued by a Tusculum Police Department (TPD) officer and the TPD chief after Morrow passed the officer at 104 miles per hour lost control and crashed into Pearson’s car. Pearson died at the scene, while Morrow is in jail on other charges as an investigation into the accident that caused Pearson’s death continues.

READ MORE HERE

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Trooper was traveling 100+ mph before slamming into car

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November 08, 2021 at 11:07 pm EST
By Ted Daniel, Boston 25 News
@tvnewzted @Boston25

Note from PFC: At 101 miles per hour the Trooper’s SUV was traveling more than 148 feet per second and can cover a half mile in just 20 seconds.  Innocent victim Sarah Stevens should never have been put in this situation.

25 Investigates: Trooper was traveling 100+ mph before slamming into car, critically injuring nurse

The trooper was racing to join a pursuit several towns away, MSP documents show

LEOMINSTER, Mass. — She was on her commute back home to Fitchburg that January night last year when Sarah Stevens says her life was changed.

The 30-year-old emergency room nurse stopped at the Wendy’s on N. Main Street in Leominster following a 12-hour shift at Lowell General and was exiting the parking lot when, she says, the sudden and violent impact happened. An unmarked state police cruiser slammed into the driver’s side of her Ford Focus.

Sarah Stevens (photos from Boston25 News)

The January 29, 2020 crash totaled her car and shattered her body.

“I know that I was in the coma for about a week. I fractured my shoulder, had eight broken ribs, a lacerated liver, a bleeding kidney,” recalled Stevens. “I had brain bleeds, a dissected carotid artery. They also had to go in and put a coil in my kidney to stop the bleeding.”

See the video and read the rest of the story HERE.

 

 

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November 2, 2021

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November 2, 2021
Fifteen Birthdays

Last year I posted a note about Paul’s birthday. It’s so hard to believe that another year has passed us by.  I thought, given the world’s issues, I’d post an updated version of that note.
Peace.  – Jonathan Farris, Dad, Gatekeeper of PaulFarris.org and Chief Advocate of Pursuit For Change

Some of our readers will envision this particular Tuesday as a year after the United States’ most contentious Presidential election. And that contention continues today through lies and hate. Paul would be appalled.

Some of our readers remain anxious about the pandemic and the devastation caused to individuals, families, countries and the world. As of my writing this, 769,299 people have died in the US and over 5,000,000 have died worldwide. Horrible beyond mere words.

But on November 2, 2021 I take a moment to forget the noise, to forget the pandemic, and instead focus on wonderful memories.

Paul Farris was stolen from us in 2007. And 2021 will be the 15th missed birthday. This is unimaginable to me.

We would have mailed or emailed Paul a cute birthday card, texted him a funny greeting and then spoken to him after work. The way it’s supposed to be.

He would be heartbroken that such a horrendous chapter of history continues in 2021. However, I suspect that in addition to being despondent, he’d be engaged doing whatever he could to make a better future for all of us.

Or perhaps he’d just be sitting around drinking beer. We’ll never know…

 

Just like every birthday, and indeed every single day, we miss you immensely.

Paul & theMark early 2000’s

Paul a very long time ago…

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Searching for Help in Washington DC

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Searching for Help in Washington DC

by Jonathan Farris, Chief Advocate, Pursuit For Change
October 2018

 

Police chases kill hundreds of people every year. At least one third of those killed are innocent bystanders. Additionally, law enforcement officers (LEO) are always at risk while chasing or while en route to a pursuit.

In 2017 five (5) law enforcement officers were killed in pursuits. This year through September, four (4) officers have fallen in chase-related incidents.

And because Federal and State statistical tracking is so weak, we have absolutely no idea how many innocent bystanders and LEOs have been injured as a result of pursuit-related driving incidents.

Although there are not many organizations focused specifically on reducing dangerous police chases, there are some.

US Capitol 2018. Photo by Jon Farris. All rights reserved.

During October of 2018, members of the PursuitResponse group, of which Pursuit For Change is a member, visited Washington DC to meet with legislators once again.  PursuitResponse’s core members are technologists offering advanced tools designed to reduce active police chases and to increase LEOs’ hands-on training designed to help them remain safe during high-risk vehicle events. The orgainzation has also partnered with and are supported by advocates and law enforcement.

So we continue to meet and work with legislators who are interested in and support our mission to prevent unnecessary deaths and injuries of citizens and law enforcement officers. We will accomplish this through training, advocacy, and additional legislation.

  • Mandatory Federal statistical tracking of pursuit injuries and deaths
  • Greater (and specifically earmarked) grant funding for utilization of pursuit reduction technology and high-risk vehicle driver training
  • Pursuit policy modifications, focusing on movement toward violent felony-only chases

Creating legislative partnerships and new legislation is always a slow process. But please know that we will not give up, because it is so important.  This is especially true for those of us who have personally suffered a direct pursuit-related loss. We want to reduce the liklihood that it isn’t you who receives a life-changing 4:00AM call…

National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial 2018. Photo by Jon Farris. All rights reserved.

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