Police Are No Longer Allowed to Chase People for Minor Offenses

Police on Wednesday have unveiled a new policy that can govern when and how officers engage in foot chases. In fact, the policy tells officers they are not allowed to pursue someone who is suspected only of committing a minor traffic offense. Thus if someone is, in fact, suspected of committing a low-level misdemeanor. However, unless the person does pose an “obvious” threat to the community. All this has occurred two months after the police killing of 13-year-old Adam Toledo.

Police Avoiding Foot Pursuits Altogether

There are is guidance on providing for ways cops can avoid foot pursuits altogether. Moreover it can direct Chicago police to never chase if they believe the risk to officers. As a result, the public outweighs the need for “immediate apprehension.”

Police: Specific Directives

The first time the city has put in writing specific directives, this new guidelines mark that. It relates to officers when it comes to chasing suspects on foot. One of the most dangerous activities in which officers engages, according to experts.

Capture Suspects

“Thus it will give the officers an opportunity, to maybe slow things down. Thus have a better and more positive outcome. That is when they are trying to capture suspects,” Superintendent David Brown has said.

“Moreover, that is the intent of a foot pursuit policy. For example, you known ‘let’s use de escalation, let’s set up a perimeter if need be. In fact, let’s choose the right place to capture him. Also consider the right time to capture him or her.'”

New Policy Needed

For years, the city has known that it does have a lack of a foot pursuit policy. Unfortunately, it took the killing of a child during a foot chase through a dark Little Village alley to finally force this action.

Killed by a single gunshot to the chest, Adam was killed. This was after he ran from officers who were responding to an alert about shots being fired around 2:30 a.m. on March 29th.

One of two Chicagoans was the seventh-grader killed by police during foot pursuits. This was in the same week at the end of March. Anthony Alvarez, a 22-year-old, was shot while fleeing from an officer on March 31st in Chicago’s Portage Park neighborhood.