Deadly crash highlights risks of police chases. Do policies need to be tougher?
CBC
The recent deadly crash near Toronto — in which four people were killed after police chased a suspect through oncoming traffic on a major highway — highlights the challenges officers face when deciding whether to pursue a suspect.
But it also raises questions about whether the policies covering police chases need to be beefed up, and if officers are sufficiently trained when confronted with these incidents.
"If you're a cop and you've got to apply this balancing test in the heat of the chase, you're being asked to make ridiculously complex decisions in a very heated and stressful situation," said Geoffrey Alpert, a professor of criminology at the University of South Carolina, who specializes in high-risk police activities.
The recent collision was the result of a police chase that began with an alleged liquor store robbery in Bowmanville, Ont. Police pursued the suspect as he drove the wrong way on Highway 401 in Whitby, about 50 kilometres east of Toronto.
The crash involved at least six vehicles, according to Ontario's Special Investigations Unit, the police watchdog which is investigating. The suspect was also killed.
Provincial legislation lays out the circumstances in which a police officer can purse a fleeing suspect in a vehicle.
In Ontario, for example, an officer must consider a three-part test.
The officer must believe a criminal offence has been, or is about to be, committed and that pursuit is necessary for identifying the vehicle or a person, Steve Summerville, a former Toronto police officer and Ontario Police College instructor, told CBC's Metro Morning.
Secondly, the officer must determine that there are no alternatives. And lastly, the officer must conclude that, in order to protect public safety, the immediate need to apprehend or identify the person outweighs the risk to public safety.
"The officer involved has to make a ton of decisions at the time and assess things in a split second," Jeff McGuire, executive director of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police, also told The Current.
If officers begin a pursuit, they must notify their communications centre or dispatch. Then, the police service is required to have a supervisor monitor the pursuit.
"That supervisor has the autonomy — legislative authority — to call off, to terminate, the pursuit. And if that occurs, officers are duty-bound to comply," Summerville said.
McGuire says he believes the current legislation is sufficient and adds that many police agencies usually impose more stringent policies than required by the legislation.
"Other than completely outlawing, making chases totally prohibited under any circumstance, I don't think there needs to be tightening, in my opinion, on, legislation or policy," McGuire said in a separate interview with CBC News, though he's also open to looking for any potential gaps.
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