Police delay making foot pursuit policy permanent
Officials said they need more time to analyze data
The Chicago Police Department will miss its goal of implementing a permanent foot pursuit policy this month, officials said, announcing Friday that it needs more time to analyze data.
The department’s temporary foot pursuit policy, which will remain in place in the interim, went into effect in June following the fatal shootings in late March of 13-year-old Adam Toledo and 22-year-old Anthony Alvarez, both of whom were shot and killed by officers who ran after them.
CPD sent a letter Friday to its community partners that provided feedback and suggestions for the permanent policy, saying the department needs more time for analysis before developing a final draft. The notice stated U.S. District Judge Robert Dow, who is overseeing the consent decree the department is under, also thought it was necessary for CPD to continue gathering and reviewing data.
“CPD fully embraces this need for greater data transparency and data informed policy making as we believe that getting the policy right is more important than completing the policy quickly,” the letter said.
Robert Boik, CPD’s executive director of constitutional policing and reform, spoke to reporters Friday morning on the decision. Boik said he cannot provide a new time frame for the permanent policy, but he is hoping for progress by late fall.
“I wouldn’t characterize our efforts as CPD sitting on our hands,” Boik said. “In fact, we’re doing everything but that.”
Some of the highlights of the temporary policy include stopping a chase if officers believe they wouldn’t be able to control a person being pursued; stopping the chase if they lose their police radios and their ability to communicate with emergency dispatchers; and making attempts to contain a suspect to a particular area by notifying specialized police units as an alternative to chasing them.
The policy also calls for officers to use a so-called balancing test to determine whether a foot chase is appropriate, assessing the seriousness of the crime the suspect is wanted for against whether a pursuit could put the suspect, officer or any bystanders at risk of getting hurt.
The final draft of the policy will have to go through negotiations with the independent team monitoring department compliance with the consent decree, and the office of the Illinois attorney general, Boik said. Once the final version is out, there will be a new 15-day comment period, where the community can review the policy and give feedback.
The data analysis includes gathering data owned by both CPD and the Office of Emergency Management and
Communications, Boik said. The data collection began in 2019 and includes the number of foot pursuits that ended in use of force, what kind of force was used, the number of foot pursuits that ended in an arrest and what the arrest was for, he said.
After the implementation of the interim policy, the plan was for residents and community leaders to have an opportunity to offer feedback before it was to become permanent. The department also had internal focus groups with officers on the policy, officials said.
Boik said those community conversations have taken place in the form of two citywide meetings, and the department also allowed organizations to request an in-depth meeting with its team working on the policy. Some groups that have provided input included the Illinois Latino Agenda, Moms of CPD, the NAACP, Lawndale Christian Legal
Center and others.
“I think the perspectives were pretty wide, and so it’s our job now to take all of that and see what makes sense to include in the final policy,” Boik said. “But, again, one of the reasons we’re here is because we also want to make sure that we’re following what the data tells us and you know that we have a more complete picture upon which we’ve been having serious conversations.”
Other elements of the temporary policy include directing officers to only pursue people on foot if they have probable cause that the person committed a crime or believe that they’re about to commit one.
Another rule states that if two or more cops have multiple suspects detained and one flees, officers should not pursue the fleeing suspect if that leaves other officers in a situation where suspects cannot be safely controlled. If multiple suspects flee, those officers should not separate if that “would delay the ability to provide assistance during the apprehension of the (suspect).”
The temporary policy also calls for foot pursuits to be avoided if arresting the suspect at a later time is possible because their identity is already known to police. Officers will also make a judgment call on whether running after someone presents a safety issue for the officers, the suspect or passersby.
Police supervisors, such as sergeants and lieutenants, are to come up with a containment plan to make such an arrest, the policy states. But supervisors may also order their subordinates to stop chasing if they decide the safety risks aren’t worth it.
Officers must record pursuits with their bodyworn cameras, the policy states. They also must update emergency dispatchers as soon as it is safe on the route of the chase about whether the person being chased is armed, that person’s physical description and whether that person is the only one being chased, according to the policy.
The new rules also warn officers of the hazards of running with a gun that’s out of its holster, but the policy doesn’t prohibit doing so depending on how big a threat the suspect becomes to the public.
“CPD fully embraces this need for greater data transparency and data informed policy making as we believe that getting the policy right is more important than completing the policy quickly.”
— In a letter from CPD to its community partners