Police Vehicular Pursuits: An Overview of Research and Legal Conceptualizations for Police Administrators

• Author: Wendy L. Hicks
• DOI: 10.1177/0887403402250925
• Published date: 01 March 2003
• Date: 01 March 2003
• Subject Matter: Journal Article

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Hicks / POLICE PURSUIT TICLE
10.1177/0887403402250925 CRIMINAL JUSTICE POLICY REVIEW / March 2003
Police Vehicular Pursuits:
An Overview of Research
and Legal Conceptualizations
for Police Administrators
Wendy L. Hicks
MacMurray College
Research into the realm of police pursuits is fraught with many complex, often con-
flicting methodologies and ending results. Some projects have indicated police pur-
suits to be highly dangerous and in need of better supervisory and administrative con-
trol. Others maintain that pursuits are not as dangerous as previously believed and
are, therefore, an integral and necessary component of police duties. Struggling to
come to terms with the many intricate scholarly research endeavors in this area, along
with the variety of legal decisions so often occurring as a result of a pursuit gone awry,
is the police administrator. Ultimately, it remains the responsibility of the policy writ-
ers and administrators to devise effective, efficient policy with regard to police vehicu-
lar pursuits. Only through improving written policy will negative outcomes of police
pursuits such as accidents, injuries, fatalities, and litigation wane.
Keywords: police; pursuit; police administration; police policy; liability
The myriad of issues surrounding police pursuits have been sensationalized
to the point that the general public is continually presented with an inaccu-
rate and highly controvertible picture of pursuits. Police officers understand
that their actions in many pursuits will be closely scrutinized by administra-
tors as well as scholars researching the issues surrounding their decisions.
Debate concerning the viability of a national pursuit policy has generated
much controversy, as speculation and conjecture have been used in place of
empirical evidence by the unscrupulous in efforts to portray pursuits as a
questionable police practice and in need of new administrative policy. It is
interesting to note that past researchers have debated, in an academic forum,
the merits of police pursuits for years. Many studies have found, and
Criminal Justice Policy Review, Volume 14, Number 1, March 2003
75-95
DOI: 10.1177/0887403402250925
© 2003 Sage Publications
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continue to discover, that pursuits are an integral part of law enforcement,
supported by officers and administrators alike. The rates of accidents, inju-
ries, and fatalities have been found to be fairly similar in many research
endeavors across the nation. No discussion of police pursuits would be com-
plete without a thorough examination of prior scholarly research into the
area.
Early research into police pursuits was, at times, sensational, not likening
itself to the scientific structure of modern academic projects. Later it was
discovered that some studies of police pursuits were to be of a more pro-
found nature, acting as a springboard for further research into the realm of
police pursuits. With conflicting results and differing methodologies, it
became difficult, if not impossible, to make generalizations based upon
many of these early investigations (Beckman, 1983; Fennessy, Hamilton,
Joscelyn, & Merritt, 1970; Physicians for Automotive Safety, 1968).
Although these studies contributed to the overall store of knowledge per-
taining to pursuits, methodological differences, nonetheless, made the
study of pursuits difficult to empirically define.
Perhaps the most comprehensive study into police pursuits was con-
ducted by Charles, Falcone, and Wells (1992a, 1992b). In a study of 51 Illi-
nois police departments, researchers conducted an administrative survey, a
police field interview form, an administrative telephone survey, and an offi-
cer survey. Officers reported 875 police pursuits, indicating an accident rate
of 34% (n = 298), an injury rate of 17% (n = 149), a fatality rate of 1.7% (n =
15), and a property damage rate of 34% (n = 298) (Charles et al., 1992a).
In addition, Charles et al. (1992a) in their study of police pursuits in Illi-
nois reported that 16% of the accidents involved third parties. Pursuit-
related injuries occurred in only 9% of the pursuits, and injuries to officers
and innocent third parties were even less frequent. Although the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported 314 fatalities
resulting from police pursuits for the year 1990, Charles et al. believed this
to be an underestimation. This was based partially on other figures provided
by the NHTSA, which included an estimation of 20,000 injuries occurring
annually from more than 50,000 pursuits.
Results from the work of Charles et al. also indicated that 95.9% of all
officers voiced approval for pursuits and 62% reported that felony offenses
were more likely to instigate a high-speed chase. Officers also indicated that
their approval or tolerance for a pursuit increased in proportionality to the
seriousness of the crime. When asked about the possibility of the abolish-
ment of pursuits, officers believed that the police as a law enforcement insti-
tution would suffer a loss of respect from the general public as well as

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potential offenders. As observed by Britz and Payne (1994), “An over-
whelming majority of respondents (96%) supported the notion that more
offenders would attempt to elude police if such a policy were implemented”
(p. 117). In addition, 76.3% of officers indicated that they believed the dan-
ger to the public would increase and 85.4% maintained that crime in general
would increase (Charles et al., 1992b).
Although many studies have provided consistent findings, some endeav-
ors have contributed unsettling results and analyses. One noteworthy exam-
ple of such research results is that of the 1968 study conducted by the Physi-
cians for Automotive Safety (PAS). The PAS, by examining 3 months of
newspaper clippings, estimated that 20% of all police pursuits resulted in
fatalities, whereas 70% ended in accidents. Charles and Falcone (1992)
later reported that the PAS study was fraught with methodological flaws and
was an example of a policy-related study with questionable research proce-
dures, poor reporting, and questionable results. Despite its methodological
imperfections, the PAS study continues to be utilized by attorneys in litiga-
tion against the police in pursuit-related suits. Hence, its importance to the
field cannot be underestimated.
The PAS data were later challenged in a study conducted by the Califor-
nia Highway Patrol (CHP) (1983) who conducted a 6-month investigation
of all CHP pursuits and those of 10 cooperating law enforcement agencies
in Southern California. The findings collected on the 683 pursuits contra-
dicted earlier studies, with the observation that only 1% (n = 7) of all pur-
suits ended in a fatality, with 29% (n = 198) resulting in accidents and only
11% (n = 75) resulting in injury of any kind (CHP, 1983). Thus, results indi-
cated that the typical law enforcement pursuit did not result in death or
injury to innocent persons and injury to third parties was quite rare.
Alpert and Dunham (1988) used a modified version of the CHP instru-
ment in a study of Metro Dade Police Department and the Miami Police
Department. In an analysis of 952 pursuits, results indicated that 31% (n =
298) of the suspects escaped, whereas 68% (n = 646) were apprehended for
traffic violations and 48% (n = 314) were arrested for felonies. Alpert and
Dunham also found that 33% (n = 314) of the reported pursuits involved
accidents, 17% (n = 161) involved injuries, and 0.7% (n = 7) resulted in a
fatality. The researchers would later conclude that their analysis of the pur-
suits failed to provide support for a contention that police pursuits resulted
in an unfavorable cost-benefit ratio.
In another recent study of police pursuits in Michigan, Payne (1993)
reported that the majority of pursuits were initiated for speeding (30.5%),
followed by other traffic violations (24.9%) and suspected felony crimes

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(24.3%). Payne found that, upon apprehension of the suspect, 34.5% of the
pursuits resulted in an arrest involving a felony, 33.1% involved a charge of
fleeing and eluding, and 14.4% involved drunk driving charges. Payne also
found that accidents occurred in 67 out of 197 police pursuits, amounting to
an accident ratio of 34%.
Beckman (1986), in his Michigan State University study, also utilizing a
modified version of the CHP questionnaire, surveyed nine states and two
U.S. territories over the course of a 5-month investigation. Results indicated
an accident rate of 42% (n = 178), injury rate of 14% (n = 59), and a fatality
rate of only 2.9% (n = 12). What was absent from the researcher’s explana-
tion of the methodology was a comprehensive explanation of how officers
were sampled and surveyed for the study. It is still not clear whether officers
completed the survey forms immediately prior to a pursuit or after the fact at
some different locale. It is also not clear if all officers of a specific agency
were surveyed or if a sample of officers was chosen to complete surveys.
Although the researcher failed to provide many details pertinent to his pro-
ject, the data, nonetheless, proved to be quite useful for a general under-
standing of accident, injury, and fatality rates associated with police
pursuits.
In another study, Auten (1991) used a survey instrument in his study of
86 police agencies in Illinois. In an effort to make the results more
generalizeable and less skewed, the...