In this May 1, 2021 photo, 2-year-old Ailani Alvarez, daughter of Anthony Alvarez, who was shot by police, holds a sign that says “I miss my dad” during a protest in Chicago.
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In this May 1, 2021 photo, 2-year-old Ailani Alvarez, daughter of Anthony Alvarez, who was shot by police, holds a sign that says “I miss my dad” during a protest in Chicago.
Shafkat Anowar / AP
CHICAGO – Chicago police officers will no longer be allowed to chase pedestrians simply because they ran away or they committed a misdemeanor, the department said Tuesday, more than a year after two foot chases ended ended with police shootings for 13 years. – golden boy and 22 year old man.
The new policy closely follows a draft policy put in place after those shootings and gives the department what it hasn’t been: permanent rules about when officers can and don’t. be involved in an activity that could endanger themselves, the people they are pursuing, and bystanders.
Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown said he hopes the new policy will help make officers and the public safer, as has happened in other cities with similar policies.
“The impact on crime has been studied (and) we can look back at what has made officers safer, has made communities safer for over a decade,” he told me. reporters at a news conference about the policy he expects will be in place by the end of the summer after all officers are trained.
According to policyOfficers may give chase if they believe a person is committing or is about to commit a felony, Class A misdemeanor such as a domestic battery, or a serious traffic offense that could cause injury to others, such as like driving while drunk or racing on the street.
Officers will not be allowed to chase pedestrians if they suspect them of minor offenses such as parking violations, driving with a suspended license or drinking in public. But they will still have the power to go after people they determine are committing or about to commit a crime that posts “an obvious threat to any person.”
Perhaps most importantly, the policy makes it clear that the days of officers chasing just because someone tries to avoid them are over.
“People may avoid contact with a member for reasons other than engaging in criminal activity,” the policy states.
Name of 13 years old Adam Toledo and 22 years old Anthony Alvarez, who were armed while fleeing police in separate pursuits in March 2021, were not mentioned in the policy bulletin or the policy itself. But those pursuits – especially those of Alvarez – cast a dark shadow over policy.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot asked the department to create an interim policy in the wake of the shooting, and the county’s top prosecutor harshly criticized police for their pursuit of Alvarez. It seems the police department has also worked hard to prevent this kind of foot chase.
In this April 6, 2021 file photo, members of the Small Village Community Council in Chicago marched to protest the death of 13-year-old Adam Toledo.
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In this April 6, 2021 file photo, members of the Small Village Community Council in Chicago marched to protest the death of 13-year-old Adam Toledo.
Shafkat Anowar / AP
According to policy, chasing Alvarez is unlikely to be allowed for two main reasons. First, when the police went after him for a traffic violation, they knew who he was and where he lived, Cook State Attorney Kim Foxx told reporters in March when she announced that officers were involved in the two shootings will not be charged. Second, officers are no longer allowed to chase people suspected of misdemeanors that lead to the chase.
The policy covers a number of circumstances where an officer must stop a chase, including a requirement that the pursuit be terminated if a third party is injured and requires immediate medical attention without anyone can be provided. If officers realize they don’t know their exact location, which can happen in a chaotic situation when they’re running through alleys and between houses, they must stop. And if they find themselves unable to communicate with other officers, because they have dropped their radios or for some other reason, they must stop.
This policy also reminds officers that they or their supervisors will not be criticized or disciplined for deciding against pursuing or expelling a person – what it means for a law professor to have studied research this faculty and is a member of the legal team. successfully fought the city over its refusal to release video of a supposedly understated police shooting.
“How do you change the culture that you have to chase those bad guys no matter what, no matter how dangerous it is to everyone around you?” University of Chicago law professor Craig Futterman said. “You create policies that keep you from being disciplined, ruminating, criticized for following the policy, and not engaging in an inherently dangerous practice.”
Officers are also prohibited from inciting chases, such as using tactics in which they speed their team’s cars toward a group of people, stop abruptly, and jump out “with the intent to prevent stop anyone in the group from running away.”
The city had been waiting for a policy long before the Toledo and Alvarez shootings.
Five years ago, the US Department of Justice issued a scathing report saying that too many police chases in the city were unnecessary or ended with police shooting people they shouldn’t have. . And three years ago, a judge signed a consent decree that included a requirement for a foot-pursuit policy.
The city also has plenty of evidence of the dangers of foot chases, including Chicago Tribune Investigations show that a third of city police shootings between 2010 and 2015 involved someone being injured or killed in a foot chase.
Police officials have denied any offers they solicited, pointing out that the department has met the set deadlines.
But Chicago has not taken the lead in this regard, with other major cities such as Baltimore, Philadelphia and Portland, Oregon, having implemented foot chase policies and Futterman said the department has been fighting the lawsuit for years despite knowing how dangerous foot chases can be. .
However, he still praised the department.
“The lives lost and having a (police of pursuing the foot) and having a tooth … will save lives,” he said.
