Here’s how police officers handle high-speed chases

LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — After several local pursuits, law enforcement personnel break down what it takes to chase down a suspect—including when to keep going and when to call it off.

Every situation is unique when it comes to engaging in a pursuit, and 6 News spoke with the Eaton County Sheriff’s Office and the Mason Police Department about what they go through when making split-second decisions in what they call “fluid situations.”

This video shows the end of a police pursuit that the Ingham County Sheriff’s Department says happened at around 3:30 a.m. on Wednesday. The driver, a 17-year-old girl, is now facing several charges.

Mason Police Chief Matt Shutes says officers are constantly balancing the risk of engaging with the risk to themselves, the public, and the driver.

“Those are things that they should be starting to process as this matter evolves, which quite frankly changes in a matter of seconds,” says Shutes.

Eaton County Sheriff’s Department Lt. Preston Dahlgren says the decision to call off a pursuit relies on the circumstances in that very moment.

“Maybe they are blowing through a bunch of stop lights and speeds are so excessive that we can not safely proceed through them,” says Dahlgren. “Sometimes, it’s not worth pushing the issue.”

If the suspect slips away, other deputies and agencies are made aware of the situation, either picking up the chase or making an arrest in their jurisdiction.

While officers and deputies are trained for these scenarios, Dahlgren says “It’s fluid, the plan is very fluid when it comes to responding to these.”

When the call comes to help another agency, Lt. Dahlgren says deputies are proactive by blocking high way exits and standing by for support.

“We try to get ahead of the actual pursuit and do whatever we can to help minimize damage,” he says.

Lt. Dahlgren says the chase can end through the driver losing control of the vehicle, police ram the car or the use of tools like “stop sticks” which deflates the car’s tires.

“Once you get those tires disabled, it’s only a matter of time before they come to a stop, and then they’ll either give up or try to flee on foot. But at least we took that vehicle out,” he says.

Shutes says there’s also a physical response, like an increase in adrenaline, that officers train to prepared for.

“The more we can educate our young officers and our officers, and the more the supervisors can be educated, that they can recognize these things invariably are going to happen and they could happen to any officer of any age. The more that we can recognize these factors, it goes to the basis of our decisions whether to continue or to terminate, says Shutes.

That training can come in the form of simple breathing techniques. One of those skills was “box breathing”. That process means inhaling and exhaling while counting to four, and done in a set of 4, like a box. Shutes shared the skill with his deputies during his time with the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office.

“So it happened that a homicide suspect came through Livingston County. Car was on fire for several miles and it was a very large pursuit,” says Shutes. He says a deputy told me that he followed the technique during the chase and said it worked. “That made me feel great,” says Shutes.

He says having a supervisor also reviewing the chase and making the call when to stop also helps the decision process.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WLNS 6 News.