High-Speed Police Chases: Not Worth the Risk

In 2012, a police pursuit of a drug suspect ended up killing Stephanie Melson, a mother of three, after the suspect ran a stop sign. “Melson’s death was the catalyst for newly arrived Louisville Metro Police Chief Steve Conrad to overhaul the department’s pursuit policy,” Riley wrote, “to try and reduce the risk of collisions and fatalities from police chases.”

The policy, instituted in December 2012 and updated several times since then, states that LMPD officers can only pursue suspects involved with a violent felony, according to [local WDRB reporter Jason] Riley. Otherwise, the chase must be called off. “As of last year, they have to stop, turn around and drive the opposite direction to show the suspect they are not being followed,” Riley reported.

According to WDRB’s numbers, provided by LMPD, seven people were killed as a result of pursuits in the five years before the policy. Since 2013, there have been no deaths related to police chases. Total police chases have dropped by by over half since the change.

That’s a serious increase in street safety.

Nationwide since 1979, more than 5,000 people have been died as a result of police chases, according to a 2015 USA Today analysis cited in Riley’s report. Over that same time, 171 Kentuckians have been killed by such high-speed pursuits. Tens of thousands more have been injured.