Chicago PD Bans Foot Pursuits For Minor Offenses
The rules are being rolled out more than a year after two Chicago police foot pursuits ended with police fatally shooting 13-year-old Adam Toledo and a 22-year-old Anthony Alvarez.
Landwebs
The Chicago Police Department has formalized a draft policy from last year banning on-foot pursuits and creating permanent rules about when officers can and cannot engage in activities that endanger themselves or others, the Associated Press reports. The rules are being rolled out more than a year after two Chicago police foot pursuits ended with police fatally shooting 13-year-old Adam Toledo and a 22-year-old Anthony Alvarez, and three years after a federal consent decree on the city instated required the department to adopt a policy on the issue following a DOJ investigation.
Most significantly, the new policy bans police from chasing someone simply for avoiding the police or running away when they see them. Officers also may not pursue someone for minor offenses, and must call off a chase if a third-party is injured and needs medical attention from the pursuing officers, if officers do not know where they are or if they lose contact with other officers. Police officers are prohibited from provoking chases. Under the new policy, the chase that led to Alvarez’s killing would never have happened: he was being pursued for a minor traffic violation.
