Police Pursuit Driving: Policy and Research

Police pursuits,oftenreceivinga lot of media attention,have become a topic of concern and priority for both law enforcement and the communities they serve.Theyoften come with high risks for the well-being ofcommunity members andfor both the police officers involved in the chaseas well as for thefleeing suspects.In this brief, we summarize what is known about police pursuits, from both legal decisions and criminological research. We then discuss the impact of this research on police pursuit policy, court decisions, and media reports. We offer suggestions about the need for more development and use of research, and the challenges for research to be integrated into police policies, training, supervision and accountability systems.