DeKalb County is following the city of Atlanta in taking a closer look at its police chase policy. But the police department has no immediate plans to halt police pursuits altogether, a change Atlanta officials announced earlier this year.
Police department officials will decide whether any updates need to be made to the policy, Chief Mirtha Ramos said Tuesday. She gave an overview of the department’s pursuit policy to members of the county commission’s public safety committee.
“The manual hasn’t been reviewed in a while,” Ramos said, “so I just want to make sure that it’s updated and that there’s nothing that we have to fine-tune.”
Last year, DeKalb officers reported 41 pursuits, department spokeswoman Michaela Vincent said.
Commissioner Mereda Davis Johnson, who chairs the committee, said she asked the chief to discuss the policy with officials after several recent police chases in metro Atlanta made headlines.
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In January, Atlanta police Chief Erika Shields announced a zero-chase policy that halted police pursuits while leaders review the policy, see the impact of the change and decide how to move forward. The decision followed several deadly incidents in Atlanta. In December, two motorists were killed when they were struck by a stolen car whose drivers were fleeing a pursuit, Atlanta police said. And a driver in a stolen vehicle fleeing police smashed into a woman's car on New Year's Eve, killing her.
Ramos, who took over as DeKalb’s police chief in November, explained that the department’s policy is to only chase a fleeing vehicle if there is reason to believe the person inside committed a violent felony or is otherwise a risk to the public. But the officer also take factors into consideration like the time of day, the weather and how many other cars and pedestrians are on the road.
“If it’s endangering the public, obviously the risks outweigh the reward,” Ramos said. “We would not pursue.”
Last November, a man fleeing DeKalb police got out of his car and was hit and killed by two vehicles on I-20 as he tried to run across the interstate. Police did not immediately say what led to the chase.
Ramos said the current discussion in DeKalb is not in response to any specific incident.
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