HPD's current policy allow chases for non-violent offenses, some say it needs tweaks

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- After last week's fatal crash involving a Missouri City police officer, some are questioning if it's time for Houston police to "tweak" their pursuit policy.

The policy was updated last September to prevent police from initiating pursuits for Class C misdemeanors, traffic infractions, or non-violent misdemeanor warrants. However, police are still allowed to pursue people for non-violent felony offenses like auto theft.

"Of course, you want to make sure that you can get the people that have stolen the vehicles or whatever, but you should always prioritize people over property," Councilwoman Carolyn Evans-Shabazz said.

On Sunday, court documents say Houston police chased a woman in a stolen car for 32 miles, sometimes at speeds reaching more than 100 miles per hour. The suspect allegedly ran through stop signs and rammed a patrol car.

"I don't think that there's going to be a perfect answer for this," Elizabeth Gilmore, an assistant professor of criminal justice at the University of Houston-Downtown, said.

Gilmore said there can be good reasons for pursuing people in stolen cars.

"For them, because of the types of crimes that they see, they will likely see that as this car has a high chance of being used for the commission of a violent crime," she said.

There's also how the suspects behave after officers attempt to pull them over - speeding or running red lights.

"Technically speaking, they may have some offenses that are non-violent, or they have some warrants that are non-violent, but they could be a threat. They could hurt somebody," Gilmore said.

It's been nearly a year since the last pursuit policy update, and Evans-Shabazz said it isn't too early for another one.

"Hopefully, in the next few weeks, we will be able to look at that to be able to get them to tweak this policy to make it even safer for Houstonians," she said, without going into specifics.

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