Milwaukee police pursuits jump 155% after policy change targeting reckless drivers

Milwaukee police chased fleeing drivers 940 times during 2018, a 155% increase over the previous year, due largely to a policy change allowing officers to pursue reckless drivers, according to a new report by the Fire and Police Commission.

Twenty officers were injured during the pursuits, one fatally, along with 165 pursuit subjects, five of whom died, according to the report presented Thursday at a meeting of the commission.

About 38% of the pursuits resulted in apprehensions and the same percentage of chases were terminated, according to the report.

"The most common reason for initiating a pursuit was in response to reckless driving," the report says, citing 629 such pursuits in 2018 and pointing to the 2017 policy change by former Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn after a directive from the commission.

The commission ordered Flynn to change the policy so officers could chase vehicles suspected of being "rolling drug houses," vehicles that have fled from police at least twice before and subjects engaged in "excessively reckless driving."

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"The subtraction of the number of pursuits initiated in response to reckless driving from the total number of pursuits initiated during 2018 results in 311 pursuits initiated for reasons other than reckless driving," the report says.

"This number is very close to the total number of pursuits engaged in during the previous full year of data preceding the 2017 policy change (2016, 306 pursuits)."

Milwaukee Police Officer Charles Irvine Jr., 23, was killed June 7 when the squad he was in flipped over and crashed during a pursuit on Milwaukee's northwest side.

Ladell Harrison, 29, who fled from Irvine and Officer Matthew Schulze during a traffic stop, was sentenced this month to 30 years in prison.

Among its conclusions, the report also found:

• Thirty-eight pursuits resulted in a third-party injury.
• More than 80% reached speeds at or above 60 mph.
• About half of all vehicle pursuits occurred in police districts 5 and 7 on the city's north side.
• Nearly 72% of pursuits in 2018 were initiated between 5 p.m. and 1 a.m. 
• Officers chased 280 vehicles determined to be stolen.
• The average pursuit was 4 minutes and 48 seconds.

"Vehicle pursuits have been characterized by the US Justice Department as '… possibly the most dangerous of all ordinary police activities,' " the report said.

"Given the inherent risk of high-speed reckless driving to both the public and the officers, these police actions are generally under heightened scrutiny."

Milwaukee Police Chief Alfonso Morales said the increased pursuits have led to a drop in vehicle theft, carjackings and violent crime.

"Is it dangerous? Absolutely it is," Morales said after the commission meeting, stressing what he characterized as the strict supervision under which pursuits operate.

"But we're always looking for an alternative way to make it safer."