Local police make split-second decisions in chases

BOARDMAN, Ohio (WKBN) – You may have noticed a series of police pursuits across the Valley recently. WKBN TV First News has seen it from officers on the ground and even from helicopters during saturation patrols. Every department has its own rules, but many similarities.

Law enforcement will pursue people they feel have broken the law.

“That could be a traffic violation, it could be for criminal offense, or they have reason to believe that that person has been involved in some incident where they want to speak with them, typically, that’s how it starts,” said Sgt. Chuck Hillman.

Hillman teaches the Boardman police department about pursuits and helps at the YSU and Kent State police academies. Each department and officer has things to consider in initiating any pursuit.

“And certainly, if there’s a gun involved, if we know that they’re fleeing a scene where a gun was used, or someone suffered serious physical injury or death, then certainly that’s going to be right up there, as far as ranking for the seriousness,” Hillman said.

Departments will go over their pursuit training every year. Officers will consider many factors before turning on lights and sirens such as weather, road conditions, and boundaries.

“And that’s the challenging thing sometimes is that many of these pursuits are very quick. We’re asking our officers to make these decisions in a matter of sometimes seconds or certainly minutes,” Hillman said.

Two important decisions to make are whether to continue the pursuit and when to call it off. Police pursuits get glamorized in movies and video games, but police are trained to think about safety first.

“Does the risk of this person getting away and us stopping the pursuit outweigh the risks of us pursuing this person. So, it’s a balancing act throughout the situation,” Hillman said.

Police pursuits can be looked at, and officers can be judged on their response. One of the main considerations is did they operate with regard to the safety of others on the road.

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