Police Chase Policy Revised

HARTFORD (AP) — The policy that is supposed to cover police pursuits statewide has been revised to narrow the options for police to chase suspects.

Law enforcement officials have issued a revised draft of the policy that limits the circumstance under which an officer may chase a suspect and details what departments must do when chasing suspects across town lines.

The new proposal drops a section that allowed officers to chase a vehicle “when a driver exhibits the intention to avoid apprehension by refusing to stop.” Some lawmakers strongly objected to that section last February, saying it gave police a green light to chase virtually any suspect.

Last year the Legislature passed a bill mandating a universal chase policy in response to a string of fatal chases that started over minor incidents.

The legislature’s Regulation Review Committee rejected the initial policy draft in February and directed representatives of the state police and local police departments, to try again. The committee approved a temporary policy that will expire in early August.

The state scheduled a public hearing on the new proposed policy at state police headquarters in Middletown on June 30.

The revised policy also lays out in greater detail what officers must do when chases go from one town into another.

Under the proposal, police must notify their counterparts in a neighboring town if they chase a vehicle into that town. The draft prohibits officers in that town from joining in the chase unless told to do so by a supervisor and the pursuing police officer can not ask for help unless the situation demands immediate assistance.