MILWAUKEE — A recently released Milwaukee police pursuit study sheds light on some alarming trends in chases.
The comprehensive analysis breaks down when and why police pursuits often begin and end. The top thing that sticks out to some of those who have suffered the consequences is how often chases result in crashes.
It’s a polarizing issue in Milwaukee: Whether or not police should chase reckless or mobile drug traffickers.
Those two categories account for about 70 percent of Milwaukee chases. They’ve caused pursuit numbers to skyrocket ever since the Fire and Police Commission forced the policy shift in 2017.
In each of the last three years, M.P.D. has chased more than 1,000 drivers annually.
"My biggest issue with the policy is it's impossible to police that,” Jonathan Farris said. “What is reckless? Reckless is a legal term, but it's also a term that you and I have to decide what's reckless."
Farris lost his son in a police pursuit more than a decade ago. He was an innocent victim in the back of a taxi.
"Losing a child is just impossible to explain,” he said. “It's a pain that doesn't go away."
Farris has become one of the biggest advocates in the country, calling o law enforcement agencies like M.P.D. to only pursue when there’s an imminent threat of danger such as a violent felony.
"It's changed my life and it's gotten me into what can I do to save other people from having to live through this situation,” he said.
The Milwaukee report highlights the risks Farris has been vocal about for years.
Over 5 years from 2018 through 2022, nearly 22 percent of police chases ended in crashes. In 2022, about 18 percent resulted in injuries.
In 2023, seven people died in police chases that ended in the city of Milwaukee. Four of whom were innocent bystanders.
Some fear part of the increased danger could be because speeds in pursuits are climbing higher.
The report shows 111 chases in 2022 exceeded 100 miles per hour and two-thirds of all chases that year hit speeds above 75 m.p.h. That’s far more than each year going back at least 15 years.
"It was a conscious decision to go 117 miles an hour,” Mark Hagen told TMJ4 in an interview last month.
Hagen lost his daughter Erin and her unborn child last fall after a driver who was fleeing police smashed into her car.
“Do you support Milwaukee police chases as much as they do?” TMJ4 reporter Ben Jordan asked.
I don't know the answer to that,” Hagen replied. “From what we've been told and from what I've been able to read, the last thing of those laws years ago have increased those. So I don't know how you put the toothpaste back in the tube."
Hagen told TMJ4 he thinks police chases are often necessary to bring accountability to criminals.
"If I could go back in time, I'd say, ‘yeah, I wish you never would have initiated that chase’, but he was doing his job, it was a stolen car and I don't know any other answer than to try and pursue and stop them."
The city report highlights a separate issue when it comes to traffic stops in Milwaukee. Nearly 11 percent of drivers pulled over in 2022 took off.
Far more than the average of 3 to 5 percent in the preceding years. M.P.D. can also chase for that reason.
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