By The FirstThe City of Chicago revised their guidelines on foot pursuits this week, banning police officers from chasing people suspected of committing so-called “minor crimes.”
The policy prevents cops from following suspects if they are “visibly armed” or “enter buildings.”
Read the guidelines below:
PURSUIT GUIDELINES Department members should consider alternatives to engaging in or continuing a Foot Pursuit in the following circumstances.
These circumstances create particularly high risk for the Department members and the public.
A. The Department member is acting alone. NOTE: A Department member should not initiate or continue a Foot Pursuit if acting alone and the pursuit results in a Department member chasing two or more people simultaneously.
B. The person being pursued is visibly armed with a firearm.
C. Two or more Department members become separated, lose visual contact with one another, or obstacles separate them to the extent that it prevents the ability to provide assistance during a Foot Pursuit or the apprehension of the person being pursued. In such circumstances, it is generally recommended that a single Department member keep the person being pursued in sight from a safe distance and coordinate the containment effort.
D. The person being pursued enters a building, structure, confined space, isolated area, or dense or difficult terrain, and there are insufficient Department members to provide backup and containment. The primary Department member should consider discontinuing the Foot Pursuit and coordinating containment pending the arrival of sufficient resources.
E. The Department member becomes aware of unanticipated circumstances that unreasonably increase the risk to Department members or the public.
F. The location of the person being pursued is no longer known.
G. The identity of the person being pursued is established or other information exists that will allow for the person being pursued apprehension at a later time, and it reasonably appears that there is no immediate threat to Department members or the public if the person being pursued is not immediately apprehended.
H. The Department member’s ability to safely continue the Foot Pursuit is impaired by inclement weather, darkness, or other environmental conditions, such as steep terrain, worn-out structures, piles of debris, etc.
I. The presence of vehicular traffic in the area of the pursuit and risk of emergency vehicle response by additional Department members create safety concerns.
