Cleveland Chief of Police Calvin Williams defended his department鈥檚 police pursuit policy during a meeting of Cleveland City Council's public safety committee Wednesday.
His appearance came five days after council members publicly questioned whether the rules governing police chases made it possible for a recent citywide string of car jackings to continue unchecked.
Williams said loosening police chase rules won鈥檛 necessarily lower the violent crime rate.
鈥淚n this city, there are less than, probably, 100 vehicle pursuits a year, whether full pursuits or pursuits initiated and terminated,鈥� Williams said. 鈥淲e have thousands of violent crimes a year, so I don鈥檛 see the correlation between pursuing and not pursuing and the level of violence in this city.鈥�
According to the city鈥檚 General Police Orders on police pursuits, officers can only chase suspects when either a violent felony has occurred or the driver is believed to be intoxicated and the danger posed by a chase is less than the potential danger posed to the public if the suspect remains at large.
The policy includes a long list of additional rules limiting police chases and was enacted in 2015, in the aftermath of the 鈥�137 shots鈥� incident 鈥� a 60-car chase that ended with the death of Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams, both unarmed, in a hail of police gunfire.
Williams told council there were occasions when officers spotted the suspects in the recent car jacking cases but did not pursue because of the risks to the public.
鈥淭he officers in the 4 th District and those bosses knew that that was a situation that would probably end in some type of tragedy if they continued those pursuits,鈥� Williams said.
The suspects were eventually tracked and arrested with the help of cameras, patrol officers spotting stolen vehicles and a police helicopter.
鈥淎nd it didn鈥檛 involve a dangerous pursuit,鈥� said Councilman Kerry McCormack, whose West Side ward saw several recent car jackings and who participated in a press conference last week criticizing the city鈥檚 pursuit policy. 鈥淎nd my concern is that we didn鈥檛 act fast enough city wide.鈥�
Council members at Wednesday鈥檚 meeting appeared split on whether the city needs to loosen pursuit rules or if the arrests last week showed exemplary police work.
Councilman Brian Kazy questioned whether all of the restrictions on chases make it, in effect, a policy banning chases.
鈥淲e all know officers who have said they can鈥檛 chase,鈥� Kazy said. 鈥淲here鈥檚 the breakdown in the policy out of the administration to actually having the men and women out in the street actually understanding the policy?鈥�
Williams replied, 鈥淭he policy is clear. Our officers have been trained on the policy."
鈥淭his policy has been in effect since 2015," he said. "If an officer is not clear since 2015 on the pursuit policy, then we have an issue, or that officer has an issue. Because it is incumbent on all our officers to know our policies.鈥�
According to Williams, the city will conduct a review of its vehicle pursuit policy later this year and consider changes. Council members requested that they be briefed on any potential changes.
