Police Pursuits and Understanding Your Limitations

In police work it's not uncommon to get into a police chase. When I first started in law enforcement I actually tried to get into chases by hitting some of the bad areas hoping that the guy would run. I know that sounds a little morbid, but I was new and wanted to have some fun; do what I saw on COPS. But the reality is police chases are extremely dangerous. And its extremely important that you understand your capabilities as a driver, of your vehicle and even the psychology of chases. Let's start with you as a driver. First off, have you ever been in a chase? We know you've trained for it in the police academy, and that's great, but when you get into your first police chase you'll experience things that cannot be taught in the academy. One of these things are how you respond to your adrenalin going up. Once it gets going, you are in a different world.

There's a strong tendency to get into a tunnel vision of "catching the bad guy"

That alone can cause major problems. For instance, you originally make a traffic stop for someone rolling through a stop sign. When you approach the vehicle on foot, the guy takes off. Let's analyze what happens at this point:

You're immediately angry which is natural. No one's faulting you for that, but you need to recognize it and try to remain as calm as possible. I've heard police officers literally screaming in their radio that they were in a chase.

Your entering the "tunnel zone." As a new officer you want to catch the guy so bad that you focus only on the car fleeing you, and not your surroundings. This is a critical error that you have to learn to deal with. For instance, is the guy approaching a major intersection? What are his speeds? Is he making an attempt to at least slow down through lights? What are the weather conditions? Am I safe? This is by far the most important question you must ask yourself. If you're not driving within your capabilities, then you are not safe, period. I understand there will be risks, but you don't have to drive 100 MPH just because the bad guy is. This is a mistake and can cost you your life.

What about your police car's capabilities?

One of the things I always explain to new officers is understanding their vehicle's brake system. Your brakes will literally go out in a high speed chase after about the 3rd or 4th time of heavy use. This is of course unless you're department supplies you with a vehicle that is equipped to handle this type of driving, but most do not. Case in point, I was in a chase one time where after about the fifth time I braked hard around a corner, my brakes literally went to the floor. I went up on the grass, and thank God it was an empty lot; otherwise, I would have slammed dead into a house. So understand that and remember that.

The big picture

There was one chase that I saw, not involved in, but I went to the scene after hearing it go out that opened my eyes forever. It was another police officer that merely made a u-turn to stop a vehicle. That vehicle observed this and immediately accelerated in speed, running a stop sign and killing a boy. The father was thrown from his vehicle severely hurt but yelling out "Don't worry about me; save my boys." It was heartbreaking to say the least. No one can fault the police officer for this, but its just plain sad.

Conclusion

I'll be the first tell you that I will jump through hoops to catch the bad guy. I don't like seeing bad people getting away with hurting good people, the main reason I got into police work. But after years of experience, you start to question the costs associated with police chases specifically. I know its hard to terminate your own chase, but it some situations you really have to ask yourself if its worth it. I also understand, and agree, with the arguments of "Well if we don't chase, the bad guy will know that and simply run every time." I'm an advocate of that. All I'm saying is when you're in a police chase, you need to be thinking about a lot of things other then the bad guy. There are other people at risk of getting severely injured or killed, including yourself.