HPD veers on chase tactics
Controversial maneuver meant to end high-speed deadly pursuits
In an effort to end deadly high-speed chases, the Houston Police Department will begin allowing officers to use a controversial driving maneuver that they hope will stop fleeing motorists before they threaten others on the road.
Chief Art Acevedo announced Friday that officers would begin using the Precision Immobilization Technique, or PIT maneuver, which was developed decades ago in Germany as an anti-terrorist tactic.
“We’re doing this because the safety of our officers matters to us — the safety of our community really matters to us,” Acevedo said, “And then the safety of the suspects matter as well.”
Houston police have engaged in more than 4,000 vehicle pursuits since 2012, leading to injuries for more than 32 officers, about 1,000 innocent victims and 6,000 fleeing suspects, he said.
On average, five people died every year in
pursuits. Last year, 13 people — including a Patton Village police sergeant — died in high-speed chases over a 13-week stretch.
“That’s simply not acceptable to us,” Acevedo said.
Police unveiled the maneuver publicly Friday for reporters at the department’s training academy in north Houston.
Can cause rollovers
The maneuvers are designed to stop pursuits before they reach excessive speeds or to stop suspects when they are forced to slow down.
To execute the maneuver, officers drive next to a fleeing suspect, match the car’s speed and then nudge the rear corner of the vehicle behind the back wheel.
If done properly, the maneuver forces the fleeing vehicle to spin out safely and stop, causing little damage to either vehicle.
When used at high speeds or with narrow vehicles that have a high center of gravity, however, the maneuver can cause vehicles to roll over, leading to injuries and fatalities, experts said.
“PIT maneuvers are really important tools for police, but they’ve got to be done right and in the right conditions,” said Geoffrey Alpert, a professor at the University of South Carolina who has studied police pursuits extensively.
Acevedo said officers would not be performing the maneuver at high speeds, but declined to say exactly at what speeds the maneuver would be allowed, saying he did not want to reveal tactical specifics.
The move announced Friday drew support from state and local law enforcement leaders.
“If there’s an opportunity to end a chase before it goes on for a prolonged period of time, that’s a good thing, and we need to explore that option,” said incoming Houston Police Officers Union President Joseph Gamaldi. “Because the longer these chases go on, the bigger risk it is to the officers and the civilians out on the street.”
Police pursuits have often ended in tragedy. In June 2016, a 39-yearold Patton Village police sergeant died after being struck by another vehicle while pursuing a suspect. In the same chase, an 11-year-old boy died and his 9-year-old sister was injured.
In July, two brothers fleeing police died in a fiery crash in north Houston. The pair fled in a pickup after police tried to pull them over for questioning about another accident. During the highspeed chase, they crashed into a concrete pillar.
Before Acevedo took over the department in December, HPD had not permitted officers to use the PIT maneuver.
Former Houston Police Chief Charles A. McClelland — who acknowledged that the maneuver can be effective in ending chases — said he prohibited PIT maneuvers because of concerns they endangered the safety of police officers, suspects and the public while putting more wear and tear on police cars.
‘Crossfire situations’
A spinning car can also make it easier for a suspect to fire at an officer, he said.
“We were already in a situation where we had extreme car shortages,” he said. “Officers routinely didn’t wear their seat belts, and got hurt in crashes. … And I didn’t want to create crossfire situations.
“I just didn’t think it was worth it,” he said. “I never bought the argument.”
Law enforcement departments in at least 28 states train officers to use the maneuver. In Texas, the Department of Public Safety began training troopers to perform PIT maneuvers in 2015.
HPD officers would have to train for 10 hours before being certified to use the maneuver, officials said at the news conference.
But the maneuver also has detractors.
And some police chiefs in other countries view it skeptically. A chief in Perth, Australia, said the maneuver was “highly dangerous,” according to a 2016 report by ABC News in Australia.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office does not permit deputies to perform the maneuver because of liability concerns.
Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said Thursday he was “open and considering” the possibility of having sheriff ’s deputies use it.
“I want to make sure we’re looking into safety issues,” he said.
A 2008 study commissioned by the Ford Motor Co. recommended PIT maneuvers only be used at low speeds.
‘Strategy to save lives’
“The authors do not endorse the use of PIT maneuver at high-speed situations,” according to the study. “Because the ultimate purpose of PIT maneuver is to prevent the pursued from proceeding forward, instead of throwing it into complete instability, the execution of PIT maneuvers should be limited to relatively low speeds.”
Law enforcement agencies have come under scrutiny for failing to impose such safeguards.
A 2015 investigation by The Intercept found that the Georgia State Patrol has used the maneuver widely since implementing it in 1998, but without imposing speed limits for officers.
Since then, more than two dozen deaths and nearly 300 injuries were attributed to PIT-related pursuits, according to the Intercept’s investigation.
The California Highway Patrol uses the maneuver but forbids officers from performing it if they are traveling at more than 35 mph.
From 2002 to 2015, California officers ended 967 pursuits with a PIT maneuver — during which one person died and 83 were injured.
Other law enforcement labor groups also expressed support for allowing officers to use the maneuver, and said it was a decision departments don’t undertake lightly.
“It’s not some sort of whimsical helter-skelter item or issue,” said Charley Wilkison, executive director of the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas, a statewide labor group. “It’s truly part of a strategy to save lives.”
Harris County Deputies Organization President David Cuevas said he hoped deputies might be able to use the maneuver in the future.
“We need to be trained, have the ability to do the PIT maneuver,” he said. “Why would you limit law enforcement’s ability to effectively stop a moving threat?”
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