Royal Cayman Islands Police Service Pursuit Policy and Procedures                            

1. POLICY:

The Royal Cayman Islands Police Service will make every reasonable effort to apprehend fleeing violators.  Officers will always consider the dangers of a pursuit in relation to the lives and property of innocent users of the roadway.  Initially Officers must determine if the necessity of immediate apprehension outweighs the level of danger created by the pursuit.  This evaluation must be continued throughout the course of the pursuit by both the Officer and his/her supervisor.  The immediate apprehension of the violator is never more important than the lives of innocent persons, the Officers involved or the violator.

It is recognized that under certain circumstances pursuits may become necessary.  Great reliance will be placed on the officers and their supervisor to use their experience, common sense and training to resolve pursuits in a safe manner.  All officers and supervisors will be held accountable for continuing a pursuit when circumstances indicate that it should have been terminated.  No officer will be criticized for their decision to terminate a pursuit in the interest of safety.

2.  APPLICATION:

This policy is for departmental use only and does not apply in any civil or criminal proceedings.  The policy should not be construed as the creation of a higher standard of safety or care in an evidentiary sense with respect to third party claims.  Violations of this policy will only form the basis for departmental administrative sanctions.

3. DEFINITIONS:

Pursuit:  When an Officer operating an emergency vehicle and using all    emergency equipment (lights and siren) attempts to apprehend one or more occupants of another vehicle and the operator of that vehicle is aware of the attempt and is resisting apprehension by maintaining or increasing speed, disobeying traffic laws, ignoring the officer or attempting to elude the officer.

Boxing In:  Placing a police vehicle in the path or potential path of a vehicle with the intent of slowing and stopping the vehicle or keeping it stopped.

Barricade or Road Block:  The intentional blocking of any roadway, by any means, to stop a vehicle being pursued.

Ramming:  Using a police vehicle to purposely cause forceful contact with another vehicle in order to bring that vehicle to a stop.

4. PROCEDURES:

1. The Officer shall consider the following factors in determining whether to initiate and/or continue a pursuit:

• The gravity of the offence and the importance of and necessity for immediate apprehension in relation to community safety;

• Safety of the public in the area of the pursuit (the presence of children, elderly, disabled or proximity to hospitals or school zones);

• Safety of the pursuing Officer;

• The volume of pedestrian or vehicular traffic in the area or that could reasonably be expected in the area;

• The location of the pursuit (highway, industrial or residential);

• Road and weather conditions;

• Speeds involved;

• Time of day;

•  The performance capabilities of the police vehicle;

•  Whether there is a passenger or ride-a-long in the vehicle;

If the subject is known to be a juvenile;

• Whether the subject is known and can be apprehended at a later time;

• When a non-subject vehicle or pedestrian collision has occurred during the pursuit.

2. An Officer who initiates a pursuit shall immediately notify the      Communications Center (911) and provide the following information:

• The Officer’s vehicle call sign;

• Location;

• Direction of travel;

• Reason for the pursuit;

• Speeds involved;

• Amount of vehicular and pedestrian traffic (light, moderate or heavy);

• Description and license plate number of the pursued vehicle and number and description of occupants;

• Request a supervisor be notified to monitor;

3. During the pursuit the initiating officer or secondary Officer shall give periodic updates of:

• Location and direction of travel;

• Speed of the vehicles;

• Behavior of the pursued driver;

• Vehicular and pedestrian traffic;

• Any other pertinent information.

4. The Communications Center shall immediately:

• Impose radio silence except for the units involved in the pursuit;

• Notify a supervisor so that he/she may monitor the pursuit;

• Identify a secondary marked police unitto assist;

• Attempt to obtain registration information on the subject vehicle and ascertain if the vehicle is reported stolen

5. Upon notification of a pursuit the supervisor shall:

• Notify the Communications Center, via radio, of their unit number and name and that they are now monitoring the pursuit;

• In cases where a supervisor initiates a pursuit an Officer of equal or higher rank should be notified and they shall act as the pursuit monitor;

• If no other supervisor or Senior Officer is available the supervisor should relinquish his position as soon as another vehicle becomes available and the supervisor should then act as pursuit monitor;

• The supervisors primary concern shall be for Officer and bystander safety, methods of identifying the fleeing subject, tactics for stopping the fleeing vehicle and co-ordination of all officers;

• Supervisors shall, at any time, order the termination of the pursuit when, in their judgment, the necessity of immediate apprehension is outweighed by the level of danger created by the pursuit;

• The supervisor in charge of the incident shall approve any special tactics use to stop the fleeing vehicle;

• If the pursuit is terminated as the result of a collision or voluntary stop by the subject vehicle, the supervisor will respond to the termination point of the pursuit.

1. GENERAL GUIDELINES:

• Unless otherwise directed by a supervisor there shall be no more than two (2) police vehicles involved in a pursuit;

• Only marked police vehicles will be used in pursuits.  If an unmarked unit initiates a pursuit it will immediately relinquish it’s position on the arrival of a marked unit and discontinue the pursuit;

• All vehicles involved in a pursuit will activate their emergency equipment (lights and siren) and use them continually during the pursuit;

• Motorcycle units WILL NOT participate in pursuits;

• No unit will become involved in a pursuit if they have an arrested person, suspect, witness, complainant or civilian observer in their vehicle;

• The secondary police unit will not pass the primary vehicle unless it is safe to do so and the primary vehicle has been informed of the intention to pass and has granted permission;

• Officers will not drive along side, ram, force off the road or box in a subject vehicle unless authorized to do so by a supervisor.  These types of actions are extremely dangerous and should not be used unless such force is immediately necessary to protect human life from death or great bodily harm.  Contact between police and subject vehicles may cause the air bag to deploy and result in loss of control of the police vehicle;

• Firearms will not be fired at or from moving vehicles;

• Canine units may move into the area of a pursuit in order to assist in the apprehension of suspects if the vehicle is abandoned.  The canine unit will not become involved in the pursuit unless authorization is received from the supervisor;

• When a secondary unit joins in a pursuit they will notify the Communications Center immediately.  The secondary unit will take a position a safe distance behind the primary unit and take over radio communications and call the pursuit;

• If the primary or secondary unit experiences a failure of vehicular or emergency equipment they will notify the Communications Center immediately so that another police vehicle can be assigned to the pursuit.  The unit experiencing the failure will immediately cease pursuit.

6. TERMINATION OF PURSUIT:

An Officer involved in a pursuit shall terminate the pursuit under any of the following circumstances:

• When the Officer believes that the danger caused by the pursuit outweighs the necessity for immediate apprehension;

• When ordered by the supervisor or higher authority;

• When motorists or pedestrians are involved in a collision as a result of the pursuit immediate assistance must be given.  If there is only a primary unit involved in the pursuit the unit must stop and provide assistance;

• When the subject’s identity is known to the point that apprehension can be made later, and there is no need for immediate apprehension;

• When the pursued vehicle stops voluntarily or for other reasons;

• The officer will notify the Communications Center of the termination of a pursuit by giving the location and circumstances of the termination.  If the pursuit is terminated for safety reasons the officer will give the last known speed and direction of travel of the subject vehicle.

7. POST PURSUIT REQUIREMENTS:

Upon termination of every pursuit the supervisor will debrief the Officers involved.  The debriefing will be conducted in order to ascertain if the pursuit was handled within policy guidelines.  The debriefing will also be used to identify any problems encountered and make suggestions for methods that may improve the handling of future pursuits.

Each Officer involved in the pursuit and the supervisor will submit a Pursuit Incident Report prior to the end of his/her shift.  This report will be passed, through the chain of command, to the Assistant Commissioner with a copy to the Officer in Charge of the Training Department.

Quarterly and year end Pursuit Summary Reports will be compiled by the Officer in Charge of the Training Department and submitted to the Commissioner of Police.

See related iNews Cayman Editorial – “Speeding police cars cause accidents” published July 8^th 2013 at: http://www.ieyenews.com/2013/07/the-editor-speaks-speeding-police-cars-cause-accidents/