Make wishtv.com your home page

IMPD pursuit review team meets to discuss chase policy

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A review team for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department met for the first time this week to talk about policies and practices for police chases in the city.

An Indianapolis City-County Councilor along with 11 other people met at the Regional Operations Center to go over data.

Last year, IMPD had around 450 pursuits in the metro area. Councilor Jared Evans said that number is relatively high compared to other cities similar in population.

“We’re being proactive before this really becomes an issue in our city,” said Evans. “We’re looking at it and saying ‘is the risk worth the reward that comes down the road?’”

Evans represents district 22 on the far southwest side. He said he was asked to be part of the team.

The team will look over policies and work to find the best practices for a police chase.

“Certainly the fear when you’re doing pursuits is that not only is it the officer’s life in danger, but the person that they’re trying to pull over and the innocent civilians,” Evans said.

Evans said they also talked about some of the factors leading up to a pursuit, including infractions and wanted suspects.

“Overwhelmingly the majority of our pursuits are beginning with infractions, you know something as small as maybe not turning their turn signals on or speeding,” Evans said. “But the officers have been trained and have awareness to know that there’s something else’s there.”

Police chased after a car for at least 30 minutes on the city’s east side Tuesday night. The driver was taken into custody.

Police said that chase began as a disturbance call.

While the team won’t meet for another couple of weeks, Evans said he’s already planning to do some research.

“For me personally there are going to be some community discussions about it,” he said. “I also plan to go to the southwest district roll call and talk to the officers because I want to have their opinions and what they think.”

The deputy chief was not available for an on camera interview Wednesday. The next meeting is scheduled for mid-June.