More drivers are fleeing Flag (Flagstaff, AZ) police

The Flagstaff police officers were briefing each other in the car wash parking lot on the corner of Steves Boulevard and Industrial Drive shortly after midnight on Saturday, Oct. 28.

Suddenly, they heard the sound of squealing tires. One officer immediately tried to catch up to a speeding white Ford Mustang heading east on Industrial.

"I estimate the vehicle was traveling at speeds near 100 mph to gain such a huge distance in such a short period of time," the officer wrote in his report.

Although a second officer caught up to the Mustang and attempted to box it in, the driver ignored orders to stop, instead nearly sideswiping the patrol car before speeding off into the night.

The driver's actions marked the 18th time so far this year that people have chosen to ignore police attempting to make traffic stops in the city. And police statistics show that the trend to flee from police appears to be growing.

"I do think it's increasing," said Sgt. Tom Boughner of the Flagstaff Police Department.

So far in 2006, the number of vehicular flights from police has already surpassed the number for all of last year, according to police statistics.

Part of that increase, Boughner said, is likely due to mandatory sentencing requirements for people caught driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol -- particularly felony DUIs. A conviction for a felony DUI carries a minimum prison sentence of 4 months.

Another possible reason for the increase in flights from police is knowledge of the police department's pursuit policy. "I think the word gets out that the police are limiting pursuits because of an increased danger to the public," Boughner said.

The most notable use of a vehicle to attempt to flee from police this year involved Kyle R. Garcia, who was shot and killed as he sped his vehicle within a foot of anti-gang task force officers who had conducted a traffic stop on Garcia.

Boughner said that Flagstaff police officials scrutinized the city's policy on vehicle pursuits about eight years ago. The review came in the wake of successful civil suits throughout the country against police departments that had conducted pursuits that ended in harm or death to members of the public.

"It's hard to explain to the family of a child who was killed by a drunk driver police were chasing," Boughner said.

Flagstaff police officials considerably narrowed the justifications for police pursuits in the city. The new guidelines ended up being much stricter than other police agencies in the state, including the Arizona Department of Public Safety, Boughner said.

Boughner added that police administrators hold front-line supervisors accountable for the justifications for a police pursuit. Patrol supervisors must be able to fully articulate why a pursuit was kept going.

"You can always catch them later if you know the suspect or have a license plate number," Boughner said.

According to Flagstaff Police Department general orders, "Officers and supervisors shall constantly evaluate the circumstances surrounding a pursuit; they shall terminate the pursuit when appropriate.

"It is the policy of the department that a motor vehicle pursuit is justified only when the violator represents an ongoing danger to the public, and the necessity of immediate apprehension outweighs the level of danger created by the pursuit."

Boughner said, as an example, that a person who runs through a red light but does not stop for an officer does not justify a pursuit. But a person suspected of armed robbery with a history of taking hostages could justify a pursuit.

According to Flagstaff police reports, the most recent incident on Oct. 28 ended without pursuing the driver of the Mustang. Officers began a search of the area for the Mustang, and another officer came across the Mustang at the Flagstaff Mall (see related story).

Two people who were passengers in the Mustang were caught nearby a short time later. The two passengers gave police information about the driver.

Boughner said the suspect, Thomas L. Priest Jr., 22, Williams, was arrested Wednesday afternoon and booked into the Coconino County jail on a charge of felony flight and two outstanding warrants.

"So, without endangering the public, it worked out the way it was supposed to," Boughner said.

It was probably about eight years ago when they changed the pursuit policy in Dallas. I lived there at the time and listened to the police scanner regularly. A chase that began over a minor traffic violation ended with the police car crashing into a vehicle occupied by four innocent teenage girls, all of whom were killed. It happened about three miles from my house in an intersection I passed through regularly. The cops didn't seem to like the change much, but they were still allowed to engage in high-speed chases if the circumstances warranted it. I don't know if that is still the policy there or not.

The problem is, as soon as the police start limiting chases, it is in the interest of the criminal to run. So you wind up with more police chases, more mahem, and more death.

I live in a little town in Suburban New Jersey. We are right on the Garden State Parkway (Exit 137), and are the first "nice" town you hit coming South out of Newark/Irvington. For a long time, the police in town had a policy that if you made it to the on ramp of the Parkway, they would break off pursuit and radio to the State Troopers, who would arrive far too late to do anything.

So all the car thieves in Newark knew that if you could just make it to the Parkway, you were home free. As a result, my little town had the highest car theft rate in the United States. The thieves would steal a minivan in Newark, and load it full of 8-10 kids. They would then head down the Parkway and get off in town, and cruise the neighborhoods looking for vehicles in driveways and parked on the side of the road. They particularly favored Acuras and Honda Accords. Often they would steal multiple cars of the same make on the same trip, so they could have races against one another through the streets of Newark.

This went on for a couple of years, back in the early 90s. Then one day, one of these Southbound minivans full of kids wound up running from the police and got into a horrific accident, killing just about everyone. Then the police decided that enough was enough, and got serious.

Our little town immediately adopted a chase-them-until-you-run-out-of-gas policy. For the next few months, we were losing about two police cruisers a week in crashes, as our officers chased these kids up the Parkway until the cracked up at the Essex Tolls. The body-and-fender shop made out like bandits, but the word got out that stealing a car in this particular town was not a good idea.

We went from losing about twenty cars stolen a week to one or two stolen in a year. We went from having high speed chases on the approaches to the Parkway on a pretty much daily basis to a point where nobody remembers the last time a police officer had to chase a bad guy who didn't stop. Accidents are down, injuries are down, and your car is where you left it when you wake up in the morning. All because we let our police officers do their jobs.

Eventually people will forget, of course. Eventually some well-meaning mommy-stater will convince the politicians that police chases are dangerous, and should be stopped. And then we will start the whole process over again, and young kids from Newark and innocent bystanders from the suburbs will wind up paying with their lives.

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