Betsy joins Dawn to react to the latest trends around policing, as police chases rise and deaths caused by these incidents are also rising... Dawn expands on Philly Policing specifically - under new leadership as the 4th largest force in the nation, the Philadelphia PD community is hoping to get a grip on the city's crime trends... Besty then responds to the recent AP reportÂ
(AP) — Aiming to curb the hundreds of deaths caused by police chases in the U.S. each year, a new report calls for police not to start a pursuit unless a violent crime has been committed and the suspect poses an imminent threat.
The study released Tuesday by the Police Executive Research Forum, a national think tank on policing standards, follows a spike in fatalities from police chases during the pandemic and the criticism of several police departments for the increased use of pursuits, including in Houston and New York City.
The report produced by a committee of experts and policing executives says police chases should be rare, noting that the danger to suspects, officers and bystanders often outweighs the immediate need to take someone into custody.
"A lot of this has to do with the new thinking in policing today, which is about proportionality," said Chuck Wexler, executive director of PERF. "It's about the sanctity of life and balancing the risk to everyone. Police officers die in pursuits. Suspects die in pursuits and even citizens can be injured or die."
Sgt. Betsy Brantner Smith (Ret.) began her career as a police dispatcher at age 17 and has held positions in patrol, investigations, narcotics, juvenile, hostage negotiation, crime prevention, K-9 and field training. She has been a law enforcement trainer for over 20 years. Sgt. Brantner Smith is a spokesperson for the National Police Association, a nonprofit that supports law enforcement officers across the U.S.
