Urban Summit Focuses on High Speed Chases

Mayor Jones called the meeting productive, and said that the localities examined and updated existing chase policy, which was developed in 2003.  There will be annual meetings to review the policy starting next year.

Mayor Dwight Jones:

Jones:  Vehicle pursuits are one of the riskiest law enforcement actions that take place out there on the street, for officers as well as citizens.  Nationwide, more officers themselves are killed related to the use of their vehicle rather than to other acts of violence.  For citizens, we can’t lose sight of the fact that it’s the person that flees that creates the problem of high-speed police pursuits.
 
Richmond Police Chief Bryan Norwood said many of the specific procedures could not be disclosed for strategic reasons.

Apostle Anthony Taylor was killed in late March by Darryl Harris, who was fleeing from the Henrico County Police.

Last month Delegate Delores McQuinn of Richmond announced several legislative proposals designed to prevent such fatalities in the future, including consistent statewide guidelines for high-speed police pursuits, additional training for officers on proper procedure for such chases, and tougher penalties for fugitives who kill a bystander.

Craig Carper, WCVE News, City Hall.