MILWAUKEE — A new report, funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, calls out Milwaukee’s police pursuit policy for putting too many lives at risk.
A group of law enforcement leaders and scholars across the country teamed up to write a lengthy report on when police should and should not pursue. It suggests Milwaukee’s policy shifted in the wrong direction.
For Jonathan Farris of Madison, police pursuits are personal.
"It's personal to me because my son was killed in 2007,” he said. "Anybody in a circumstance like this is just crushing and it doesn't go away."
Farris lost his son Paul in a chase he had nothing to do with near Boston.
“He and his girlfriend were in the backseat with a taxi driver,” he said. “They went through an intersection and were struck by an SUV fleeing a state trooper.”
Ever since, Farris has been pursuing change in how law enforcement agencies set their pursuit policies.
A new report echoes what Farris has been asking police to do for years.
“What was your main takeaway of this 160-page report?” TMJ4 reporter Ben Jordan asked.
"It's the answer to what I've been pursuing since 2007 and that is telling all law enforcement that pursuing for non-violent felonies or situations that aren't an immediate imminent threat just doesn't make sense,” he said.
The report references Milwaukee’s pursuit policies on multiple occasions, using it as an example of what happens when departments loosen their policies.
"Pursuits in Milwaukee have just gone through the roof,” Farris said.
In 2010, Milwaukee’s pursuit policy became one of the most restrictive in the nation after four innocent bystanders were killed. It only allowed officers to chase if the driver was believed to have been involved in a violent felony. M.P.D. data shows just 97 pursuits happened that year.
In 2015, M.P.D. added carjackings as a reason to pursue.
The biggest adjustment happened in the fall of 2017 when Milwaukee's Fire and Police Commission changed department policy to chase reckless drivers and mobile drug traffickers.
MPD data shows pursuits went from 414 that year to 1,083 the following year.
The report says, “Not surprisingly, as the number of pursuits increased, the numbers of injuries and deaths did as well."
The study found pursuit-related injuries tripled and it warned of putting too many lives at risk.
"There are other options for you and it's time to take a deep breath and say 'this really hasn't worked,’” Farris said.
Milwaukee police declined an interview request to discuss the findings of the report.
“Milwaukee should stay its course because I cannot see a community where basically the bad guys get to drive, however,” said retired M.P.D. Captain Andra Williams.
Williams thinks the department’s formerly restrictive pursuit policy caused crime to explode in the city, triggering community outrage.
He believes the current one creates accountability.
"One of the main questions it comes down to is do the citizens of Milwaukee feel safer allowing this type of behavior and when you ask that question, I think most of the people will say no,” he said.
“When Milwaukee Police changed its policy in 2017, injuries went up 200 percent. Is that a result you’re willing to accept?” Jordan asked.
"Part of it when we changed the policy, we let a genie out of the bottle,” Williams replied. "When you start saying the amount of injuries have gone up when they changed the policy. I don't think anyone's looking at how many injuries are occurring when the police are not chasing."
Williams considers the federally-funded report a blanket suggestion to all large cities to rarely pursue without considering different crime problems in each one.
"Sometimes cities are faced with very unique set of circumstances and require unique solutions,” he said.
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
