Under a new law in 2022, police were prohibited from engaging in a vehicular pursuit unless they had “probable cause” to believe that a person in the vehicle has committed or is committing one or more of the following:
A “violent offense;”
A “sex offense” or an escape;
A vehicular assault offense;
An assault in the first, second, third or fourth degree but only if the assault involves domestic violence;
An escape from a detention facility;
A driving under the influence offense;
An officer also is required to receive authorization from their supervisor before engaging in a vehicular pursuit, and there must be supervisory control during the pursuit.
2023 revisions to this law will allow police to conduct pursuit when they have a reasonable suspicion – not the higher standard of “probable cause” – of one of the listed crimes. Further, the list of crimes expands to other type of crimes that affect communities. These changes allow more “in the moment” decision making to be allowed for the officer involved. Supervisor permission is also no longer needed, but notification is still required, and the law instructs the supervisor and officer involved to determine a plan on how and when to end the pursuit.
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