Current Police Vehicle Pursuits Policies and Procedures Essay

Why We Need Policy It is important to recognize that to use high speed methods in vehicle pursuit can only have risks reduced by un-holding a standardized guide as to how to proceed with the least of harm. The use of policy is an important element in any delivery of social and care service. Codes of practice provide parameters as to what needs to be recorded, how actions are to be undertaken and to realize the inherent moral obligation to ensure the rights and dignity of all stakeholders (New Jersey Police Department, 2001). Though, to provide consistency in application and resolution of dilemmas it is critical that report forms have an integrated presentation so that they can be used across situations, and across levels of staffs. Present Policy Currently there are written policies existing in every police station in North America instigated by the National Institute for Justice (NIJ). However, these differ amongst agencies, which has resulted in the indetermination of how best to deliver best practices in police vehicle pursuit (Alpert, 1997). A standardized form of pursuit policy would allow for better comparisons across agencies, and to quantify practices (Department of Public Safety, 2000). Recommended Policy Changes Develop and monitor a system to record information about pursuit driving. This will include narrative and multi-media forms, such as video, webcam and when necessary mobile camera and video. Continuous review and revision where necessary of pursuit policies. The quality and direction of these documents need to be valid and relevant and respect the rights and welfare of all stakeholders. Provide ongoing pursuit-specific training that includes ethical debating and written observation techniques Provide training and supervision across policies to ensure staffs in critical thought, inclusive decision-making and consistent deliver of services. Cultivate a culture of disclosure, reflection and critical analysis of responsibility for pursuit-actions amongst staffs. This includes having a supervisor read through and deliberates as to the appropriateness of pursuit activities in afteraction reports). Emphasize and make salient the ongoing risks and dangers of pursuit to guard against complacency of safety issues across time and experience. Establish a minimum criteria to meet a low offense as compared to a high offence to determine when a decision be made to continue or to initiate pursuit of a suspect’s vehicle. Train to recognize when public endangerment outweighs a decision to pursue; for example with incidents of traffic congestion Provide categories (ranking of criminal activities) and risk standards (rated from low to high) that allow staffs to easily and rapidly make distinctions during a chase Create a chase matrix from category scales to provide a set of specific standards that aid decision-making as to whether to start or continue a pursuit.   Conclusion Police pursuit is a controversial issue in social discourse, due to the inherent dangers to police, the pursued and the public. Formulation of a policy that adequately provides categories of risks and standards, and emphasizes the severity of the offence to determine if a chase is initiated or continued, appears to be the way to insure a consistent high level of best practices in pursuit. Ultimately, policy must seek to limit pursuit to only the most violent felons whilst resulting in the least risk to the public. Tragedy of road collisions due to police vehicular pursuit highlights the critical need for such policy. References Alpert, G. (1997) Police Pursuit: Policies and Training. Series: NIJ Research in Brief. Retrieved November 8, 2007 from http://www.ncjrs.gov/txtfiles/164831.txt Department of Public Safety (2000) Uniform Statewide Pursuit Policy. Retrieved November 8,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2007 from http://www.ct.gov/dps/cwp/view.asp?a=2151&q=294336 New Jersey Police Department (2001) Police Pursuit. Retrieved November 8, 2007 from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.state.nj.us/lps/dcj/agguide/vehpurs_2001.pdf