Police Vehicle Pursuits - Forcible Stopping Policy PDF

POLICE VEHICLE PURSUITS – FORCIBLE STOPPING CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION: THIS POLICY IS CONFIDENTIAL IN ITS ENTIRETY PREAMBLE: Forcible stopping techniques are justified only in extreme circumstances when the actions of a fleeing driver pose a grave danger to the lives of officers or th...

POLICE VEHICLE PURSUITS – FORCIBLE STOPPING CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION: THIS POLICY IS CONFIDENTIAL IN ITS ENTIRETY PREAMBLE: Forcible stopping techniques are justified only in extreme circumstances when the actions of a fleeing driver pose a grave danger to the lives of officers or the public. Officers must exercise sound judgment and carefully consider the totality of circumstances to include the seriousness of the offense, potential consequences of employing the forcible stop technique, and the safety of the officer(s), suspect, and the public. POLICY: It is the policy of the Omaha Police Department (OPD) to use forcible stopping techniques only in the most extreme cases when all other options have been exhausted and the safety of officers and citizens is in jeopardy. DEFINITIONS: Deadly Force: Physical “force, the intended, natural, and probable consequence of which is to produce death, or which does, in fact, produce death.” (NRS §28-109). Exigent Circumstance: A life threatening situation where failure to stop a fleeing vehicle is likely to result in death or serious bodily injury to officers or the public. Overtake: A driver maneuver in which an officer attempts to close the distance between the police vehicle and a target vehicle in order to initiate a traffic stop or otherwise be in a position to notify the target vehicle’s driver of the need to pull over. This does not include an effort to stop or apprehend the target vehicle, which occurs after the Overtake is successful. Tire Deflation Device: A device designed to provide a means to penetrate and deflate the tires of a moving vehicle in a manner that will avoid a catastrophic failure of the penetrated tire, thus producing the safest possible means of reducing the mobility of a vehicle. PROCEDURES: I. Roadblocks (Brower v. Inyo County) A. Roadblocks shall be used with extreme caution. The safety of involved personnel and the public shall always be of utmost importance. B. Training Requirements. 1. Absent exigent circumstances, officers must successfully complete Department- approved roadblocks training prior to conducting a roadblock. 2. Deployment Requirements. a. Roadblocks will be established ONLY in such a manner as to provide a driver reasonable opportunity to stop or otherwise avoid the obstacle. b. Roadblocks may only be authorized by a command officer at the rank of Lieutenant or higher. Upon determining the need for a roadblock, the highest ranking on-scene supervisor will make certain appropriate uniformed officers with clearly marked police vehicles are assigned.  c. Caution should be used to determine the suitability of any location. All involved officers are responsible for making certain dark and blind spots, hillcrests, railroad crossings, and curves are avoided at all costs. Weather/roadway conditions must also be evaluated to determine the appropriateness of any roadblock. d. Police cruiser emergency lighting will be utilized at all times during any roadblock. Other traffic control devices, such as cones and flares, should be deployed whenever possible. Personnel will avoid standing directly in front of a roadblock, or sitting inside of any blocking vehicle. C. Reporting Requirements – Forcible stop using roadblock. 1. Officers who come into contact with any vehicle or cause property damage to any vehicle or property in the course of performing a roadblock will: a. Complete a Chief’s Report (OPD Form 214) for Response to Resistance - Use of Force. b. Complete an Incident Report (OPD Form 189). c. Complete other reports, as necessary. (1) A Motor Vehicle Accident report is not required unless the roadblock resulted in damage to property other than OPD vehicles or the pursued vehicle. 2. Attempted/unsuccessful use of a forcible stop using a roadblock. a. Officers who attempt to stop a vehicle using a roadblock shall notify the pursuing officer to ensure the attempt is documented in the pursuing officer’s Chief’s Report (OPD Form 214) even if that attempt was unsuccessful and no property damage resulted. II. Tire Deflation Devices A. Officers should consider tire deflation devices as an optional method of safely stopping a suspect vehicle in a pursuit/roadblock situation. B. Training Requirements. 1. To make certain of proper use, officers must successfully complete an in-service training prior to using mechanical tire deflation devices. C. Deployment Requirements. 1. Upon becoming aware of a pursuit, officers certified in the use of tire deflation devices may respond to a location ahead of the projected path of the pursuit and set up a deployment location. a. Immediately upon selecting a deployment location, officers will advise 911 Dispatch of the deployment location. b. Officers will not overtake, or attempt to overtake, a vehicle fleeing at high speeds to deploy the tire deflation device(s).  c. Tire deflation devices will not be thrown or dropped from moving police vehicles. 2. Tire deflation devices will not be used in locations in which the geographic configuration would increase the risk of injury to the suspect or others. This includes roadways bounded by steep descending, or ascending embankments, curves, bridges, or other locations where the safety of proceeding or opposing traffic cannot be reasonably assured. 3. Deployment locations should have adequate sight vision in all directions to enable the officers deploying the device to observe and react to the pursuit and other traffic. 4. The placement of the police cruiser at the deployment location is critical so as not to interfere with the path of the violator. a. The deployment location will not be considered a roadblock. The objective is to deceive the suspect into driving over the tire deflation device. b. The police cruiser may be used to conceal the tire deflation device prior to the arrival of the fleeing vehicle. c. Emergency lights will be used to prevent non-involved traffic from driving over the deployment location. 5. Officers should consider that the cruiser may be rammed by a fleeing vehicle, and standing near or behind the police cruiser may offer little protection. The tire deflation device is best deployed where officers are protected behind solid objects that can stop a vehicle, such as bridge pillars or buildings. 6. Tire deflation devices will not be used to stop motorcycles, mopeds or similar two- wheeled vehicles unless the use of DEADLY FORCE is justified. 7. Tire deflation devices will not be used to stop the following types of vehicles unless the continued movement of the fleeing vehicle would result in an unusual hazard to others, and the use has the prior approval of a supervisor: a. Any vehicle transporting a hazardous material as defined in NRS §75- 364. b. Any passenger bus or van transporting passengers. c. Any vehicle that would pose an unusual hazard to innocent persons. 8. Command officers will retain the authority to make any decisions they deem necessary regarding deflation devices in pursuit or roadblock situations. D. Reporting Requirements 1. Damage caused by a tire deflation device. a. Officers who deploy a tire deflation device that comes into contact with any vehicle or causes property damage to any vehicle or property will: (1) Complete a Chief’s Report (OPD Form 214). (2) Complete an Incident Report (OPD Form 189) for non-criminal destruction of property.  (3) Complete other reports, as necessary. (a) A Motor Vehicle Accident report is not required unless the pursued vehicle damages property other than the pursued vehicle. 2. Attempted/unsuccessful use of a tire deflation device. a. The officer deploying the deflation device shall complete a Chief’s Report (OPD Form 214), even if that attempt was unsuccessful and no property damage resulted. III. Physical Cruiser Contact A. For procedures regarding forcible stop of a fleeing vehicle via physical cruiser contact, see the OPD “Police Vehicle Pursuits” policy. REFERENCES: I. Court Cases A. Brower v. Inyo County, 489 US 593 (1989). II. Nebraska Revised Statutes (NRS) A. NRS §28-109 and §75-364 are referenced in this policy. III. Previous OPD Orders A. Previous General Orders include the following: #7-95, 30-95, 46-97, 51-97, 39-98, 59-99, 6-00, 11-01, 14-01, 4-02, 49-02 and 49-02 Supplement #1, 3-03, 4-04, 6-05, 10-06 and 10-06 Supplement #1, 14-07, 35-08, 24-09, 39-10, 3-11 and 3-11 Supplement #1, 46-12, 49-13, 63- 14, 80-15, 77-17, 95-17, and 12-21. IV. Accreditation Standards A. CALEA Accreditation standard 41.2.3 is relevant to this policy. V. Other A. PPM Monthly Updates #1-2020.