A national survey of pursuits and the use of police force: Data from law enforcement agencies

Abstract

Because little is known about police pursuits and pursuit driving, most communities are forced to develop important police policy in an information vacuum. Indeed, much of the work to date lacks even consistent definitions of the basic terms, while the data available are largely ad hoc and at least a decade old. The current project addresses these voids with a national survey of police agencies concerning relevant policies and practices as well as actual incidents of recent pursuits that have occurred in their jurisdictions. From this survey, policy trends, officer training, agency procedures, discipline, and recent litigation are presented.