New police car chase rules pose risk

State aims to crack down on thefts

By: Steve Janoski
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... The deaths of two people Tuesday [05/10/2022] during a police chase that ended with a Glen Ridge car crash has cast a bright light on both the dangers of such pursuits and why New Jersey's attorney general sought to limit them nearly two years ago. [2020]
..... But a recent surge in car thefts has now pushed acting Attorney General Matthew Platkin to reverse course and loosen the recently-tightened rules, which had taken effect on January 1. [2022]
..... Platkin appeared beside Governor Phil Murphy last week [05/11/2022] to announce that - in additions to pursuing those who allegedly commit more serious or violent crimes such as homicide, kidnapping or sexual assault - officers can now chase care thieves as well.
..... "These changes will give law enforcement the tools they need to meet the moment and protect our communities, while also bing mindful of the inherent risks to officer safety and to the public when officers do engage in police pursuits," Platkin said.
..... But experts and officers alike greeted the announcement warily. Many local police expressed an aversion to chasing suspects unless it was absolutely necessary - the danger to officers and bystanders is simply too great, some said, especially in a traffic-heavy, densely-populated region such as North Jersey.
..... "I would rather someone get away wit a stolen care than a police officer or a civilian get seriously injured or killed in a motor vehicle accident as a result of a pursuit," said Elmwood Park Police Chief Michael Foligno. "And that's more likely to happen than you apprehending the person."
..... Platkin cited the state's skyrocketing care theft numbers as the impetus for his decision - thieves snatched a record 14,320 vehicles in 2021, he said.
..... And it has only gotten worse. Car thefts over the first five months of 2022 are 37% higher than they were a this time last year, [2021] Platkin said. And they're 53% higher than in 2020.
..... "This is a serious threat to our state's safety," Platkin said, adding that stolen cars are often used to commit other serious crimes, such as shootings.
..... Platkin said he will evaluate the new pursuit policy - which also allows police to chase suspects for receiving a stolen vehicle - at the end of the year.

'Really, really dangerous'

..... Alexander Shalom, a senior staff attorney at the ACLU New Jersey, said he thinks the attorney general is going to see that more people got hurt.
..... "Car chases are really, really dangerous," Shalom said. "They're dangerous for cops, they're dangerous for suspects and they're dangerous for civilians."
..... Shalom said he understood the state was trying to fight auto thefts, but prioritizing property over people is not the way to do that. "I don't think it makes any sense to mitigate [thefts] by putting people's lives at risk," Shalom said.
..... "At the end of the day, stolen cars are bad. Dead people are worse.
..... Pat Colligan, head of the state's largest police union, applauded Platkin's decision but said officers must look carefully at the risk of every pursuit before they step on the gas.
..... "They're still inherently dangerous," Colligan said. "It's good to know we can engage again if we have to, but I still think officers should sue their discretion." It's not clear if the new policy affected the mechanics of the Glen Ridge case. Platkin's office is investigating the incident, as it does any time a member of the public dies during a confrontation with law enforcement.
..... But it has not released much information about the chase, which began at about 4:30 AM. when Montclair police offers tried to stop a silver Hyundai on Bloomfield Avenue.
..... The driver sped into neighboring Glen ridge and lost control of the car, which careened into a tree near the Glen Gazebo. The drive and a passenger died in the accident. A third person was injured. Platkin has not said why officers tried to stop the car. But several media outlets, including NBC New York, have said the car's occupants were fleeing the scene of an armed robbery in Montclair.
..... If that's the case, police could have pursued the care even under the more stringent guidelines.
..... Brian Higgins, a professor at the John Jay collage of Criminal Justice in Manhattan and former chief of the Bergen County Police Department, echoed Colligan's comments when he said he was glad officers now have the option to chase a car theft suspect.
..... But he stressed the need for Platkin's office to make sure officers still follow the otherwise strict policy.
..... "If the attorney general allows police this discretion and they can't handle it, maybe he has to go back and rethink it," Higgins said, adding that individual departments could also impose more stringent requirements if they felt it necessary.
..... "The guidelines need to be strictly enforced," Higgins said. "It's why a lot of cops are not for the old days or pursing anybody, anytime. We've seen innocent people die."

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