High-speed chases risk innocent lives

See the original Editorial here: https://madison.com/article_e25887cc-8526-5b15-8a71-57c843ea1984.html

“Two suburbs are going overboard in pursuit of reckless drivers through Madison” defines a problem faced by cities across the US.

I have been challenging Monona’s pursuit policies since as early as 2020.  It’s still totally crazy to me that many police chiefs continue acting like we live in the wild west, and do anything they want “to get the bad guy,” regardless of who else they put in danger. https://pursuitforchange.org/voices-of-victims/bad-outcomes-mononas-poor-decision-to-weaken-police-pursuit-policy-in-2022-results-in-unnecessary-deaths/).

I’m proud to have worked with the Madison Police Department when they drafted new and safer vehicular pursuit policies to present to the Chief in 2016, so I do have a basis for my opinions regarding MOPD’s actions and policy.

But Monona keeps chasing and chasing, often creating chaos, injuries, death and incredible danger to innocent bystanders.  Why do I care? Because a weak pursuit policy was the primary cause of my oldest son’s death as an innocent bystander caught up in a pursuit.

Monona’s recent purchase of a pursuit reduction technology tool is a good start, but their policy remains weak and far from the recs of the DOJ and PERF.  How many more deaths will it take for them to revise their policy?