MILWAUKEE — There are no signs of Milwaukee Police pursuits slowing down. For the last three years, the department has averaged about three chases a day.
The primary tool MPD officers can use to physically force a driver to stop is throwing out stop sticks to deflate their tires. The longest Milwaukee police chase TMJ4 could find in the past 15 years exposes problems with the effectiveness of that critical tactic.
It’s a video Milwaukee police didn’t want to give us. Last August, the department wrongfully denied our open records request, claiming the chase from May 17, 2022, was still under investigation more than a year after it happened. We found out from internal affairs that wasn’t true and just recently received the video.
The 89-mile chase left officers frustrated and admitting the department needed more training.
It all started with an attempted traffic stop on the south side for mobile drug dealing. The driver refused to stop and quickly hit speeds above 110 miles per hour.
The dangers were evident within minutes. A man who was trying to get into his car had to jump out of the way.
"Almost struck a pedestrian,” an officer relays to his supervisor.
A few minutes later, the primary squad in pursuit accidentally slams into the back door of the fleeing car. As the pursuit goes on, the driver nearly backs into officers.
Milwaukee Police Department’s pursuit policy bans almost all intervention tactics that several other police departments use to end chases. They can’t do PIT maneuvers, or create a roadblock, ram, or box in cars to force drivers to stop.
About 30 minutes into this chase, MPD turns to the one intervention tactic its officers can use.
"Stop sticks are authorized,” an MPD supervisor tells officers in pursuit.
They’re used in just 7 percent of Milwaukee police chases largely because they require specially trained officers to throw them out.
"Let's get stop sticks down here, guys!” an officer said.
In this pursuit, the first two sets of sticks don’t work.
"We need more sticks, we need more,” an officer told his supervisor.
The third does, but despite popping a tire, the car keeps going just at a slower speed.
The department then sends several officers out to try more sticks.
TMJ4 watched the video in its entirety and found that 17 of the 20 attempts missed the tires.
As minutes turn into hours, the driver cruises nearly every main thoroughfare and neighborhood on the north side of the city. He even hops on the interstate.
"We're going to run out of gas,” the officer said.
As speeds slow down to less than 20 miles per hour, officers ask their supervisor if neighboring police departments can help.
"Can we see if there are any suburbs that can join this for intervention options?” an officer asked.
"Hey, Tosa's behind us if they can come in and PIT,” another officer said. "But we can't PIT because….. I know. Can we get Greenfield?"
Instead, MPD calls for more stop sticks, this time knocking out the main squad in pursuit.
"We just got stop sticked so we're going to need to have somebody take over primary,” an officer said.
Nearly three hours later, the car falls apart and the driver is arrested.
Assistant Milwaukee Police Chief Craig Sarnow says the result justified the need for this pursuit despite the driver and police blowing more than 80 red lights and stop signs along the way.
“What does that say about the ability for stop sticks to really affect these pursuits?”
"This goes to show us that we probably do need to have some more training as a result of when things like this happen as far as the deployment of stop sticks go, to make sure we're getting those repetitions in."
Police records we obtained show this chase was investigated by MPD for a little over a year.
Assistant Chief Sarnow says it didn’t result in any sort of discipline for the officers.
“What would it have taken for this one to be called off by a supervisor?” Jordan asked.
"Well, not having been there that night and only watching it through the video I guess there would have to been, the determination would have had to of been made, is apprehending this individual or individuals, because the car had multiple occupants in it worth the risk that's being put forth to the public,” he said. “The supervisors made the determination that it was and the pursuit continued."
Jonathan Farris strongly disagrees. Farris lost his son in a police chase his son had nothing to do with more than a decade ago.
"At what point do you say enough is enough, we need to stop this,” he said.
Farris has become one of the biggest advocates in the county, calling for police to stop chasing for reasons that don’t involve a violent felony.
Although Farris is glad MPD bans PIT maneuvers as he believes they are too dangerous in an urban environment, he thinks the department needs another tool to help them follow up after the fact, like GPS dart technology that’s used elsewhere.
"Why wouldn't you use every possible tool that's available? Why wouldn't you try all of those?" he questioned.
It’s a decision that would be up to Police Chief Jeffrey Norman whose office says all intervention options will be reevaluated sometime this year.
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