NCJ Number
151672
Date Published
1994
Length
1312 pages
Annotation
This three-volume report details the findings of a survey of 129 Illinois law enforcement organizations that obtained data on pursuit driving operations of police personnel; 117 participating organizations were municipal police departments and 12 were county police departments.
Abstract
Information collected on police pursuit operations included date of pursuit, type of unit initiating the pursuit, day of week, weather conditions, road type, locale, pursuit duration, number of police units involved, suspect vehicle type, police unit and suspect vehicle speeds, accident information, economic loss for property damage accidents, pursuit initiating and terminating events, forcible stop techniques when used, arrest data, and foot escape when attempted. Findings revealed that police pursuit was most likely to be initiated by a marked police unit with exterior mounted emergency warning lights. Although police pursuit was most likely to be initiated on Sunday, 3 days (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) accounted for 52.7 percent of pursuit operations. Police pursuit was most likely to be initiated in good weather conditions and was primarily conducted on two-lane roads in residential/suburban locales. The average duration of a police pursuit was 6.8 minutes and usually involved one police unit. The suspect vehicle type was most frequently a passenger car. One in 2.6 police pursuits resulted in a traffic accident, 1 in 9.2 resulted in a personal injury accident, and 1 in 58.3 resulted in a fatal accident. The average estimated economic loss per pursuit-related traffic accident totaled $22,118; the average estimated economic loss per pursuit initiated was $8,563. Police pursuit was most likely to be initiated in response to a minor traffic law violation. Only about 11.7 percent of police pursuits were initiated in response to a suspected felony offense. Forcible stop techniques, such as roadblocks, ramming, and channelization, were used to terminate 11.6 percent of police pursuits. Police pursuit was most likely to result in an arrest for a traffic law violation; only 1 in 50 pursuits resulted in an arrest for a felony crime against the person. One in four pursuits involved an attempted foot escape by the suspect, although 58.9 percent of suspects were apprehended after their attempted foot escape. Recommendations to improve the safety and effectiveness of police pursuit driving operations are offered. Tables and figures