High-speed chases around Twin Cities show varying guidelines on when to pursue

After a fleeing driver crashed his SUV into a Minneapolis playground last week, injuring three kids, the Minnesota State Patrol is investigating whether its troopers followed a policy that discourages pursuits for nonviolent offenses.

But since that near-fatal crash last week, other law enforcement agencies in the Twin Cities have continued with high-speed chases. Two of those pursuits were for misdemeanor traffic violations, and both involved vehicles traveling in excess of 100 mph.

According to the criminal complaint Hennepin County prosecutors filed last week, Kabaar Powell ran through at least 22 stop signs and reached 80 mph before driving onto the basketball court at Bohanon Park. Powell allegedly ran over 2-year-old Kayden Peltier, and partly over the boy's older sister. His family said earlier in the week that Kayden is in critical condition.

State troopers chased the driver into a park after he refused to pull over for speeding. The State Patrol is investigating.

Cmdr. Rick Gabler with the Brooklyn Center Police Department says his officers got word of it, but the supervisor on duty that morning ordered them not to take part.

"We were notified it was for traffic offenses. And at that point, our supervisor notified the other officers that were working on patrol that Brooklyn Center officers would not be getting involved in the pursuit," he said. "The reason for that being traffic offenses do not meet our policy requirements."

The Brooklyn Center Police Department's policy discourages pursuits for misdemeanors. But in Edina — another suburban department — the policy does not.

It does say pursuits should be terminated when "the danger created by the pursuit outweighs the public interest in immediate apprehension."

It's not clear if a chase in Edina last Thursday met those guidelines.

Court documents say an officer was on patrol near highways 100 and 62 when he clocked a motorcycle going 74 mph in a 55-mph zone.

The officer tried to stop the 21-year-old driver, but he took off along Interstate 494. The officer tailed the motorcycle at speeds of up to 130 mph. The driver took the ramp onto Highway 62 then re-entered I-494 before exiting and riding the wrong way on Lyndale Avenue. The officer ended the pursuit after more than 17 miles.

The motorcyclist ran a red light at Nicollet Avenue before crashing. Officers later found the wreck and tracked down the driver. He's charged with felony fleeing a peace officer.

Edina police declined to speak with MPR News about their pursuit policy in general or this incident in particular.

In nearby Bloomington, Deputy Chief Mike Hartley says he's proud of the on-the-road training his officers receive.

Last Wednesday afternoon one of them tried to pull over a 40-year-old Minneapolis man after he cut across three lanes of traffic without signaling. According to the criminal complaint, the driver sped away at 100 mph. The officer followed for more than 3 miles, but Hartley says the officer gave up the chase.

"He actually terminated the pursuit and then shut down his lights. But then the person just started pulling over on a side road, so contact was eventually made with him."

Hartley says pursuits are dangerous for everyone involved, including the public, so knowing when to engage is key.

"The state mandates that you go through driver's training every five years. As a department we made the decision many years ago to make it every three years, just because we think it's that important."

University of South Carolina criminologist Geoffrey Alpert has studied police pursuits since the 1980s. Back then, he says, most departments didn't have policies; they'd chase "until the wheels fell off."

But then states — led by Minnesota — began requiring data collection. Alpert says gradually law enforcement agencies began to implement guidelines.

"If you were chasing a bank robber, a rapist, a murderer, then there's some justification," he said. "If you're chasing someone for speeding or running a red light or having a stolen car, then that's ridiculous."

In classes for police officers, Alpert often asks them this question: "How would you feel if your 16-year-old daughter were injured or killed in a pursuit by one of your colleagues for a stolen car?"

Alpert says that even with better policies, every day across the country one person on average is killed in a police chase. About a third of the time, it's an innocent bystander, he says.