As police chases surge, officials balance cracking down and safety

By Max Reinhart, MediaNews Group

Chases with suspects eluding police have surged lately and put harmless folks in danger, one county prosecutor and officers with at the very least three legislation enforcement businesses stated, although pursuits nonetheless play an vital position in arresting suspected criminals.

Since Might alone, at the very least three folks have died in Metro Detroit after they or their vehicles had been struck within the midst of a police pursuit. Alex Habib, a Madison Heights father of two, was in his automobile when he was struck in July by a 16-year-old Detroiter fleeing police who ran a pink gentle. Habib later died from his accidents.

Two state lawmakers have launched laws that may impose stricter penalties on those that lead police on chases, although critics have argued that these sentencing choices are higher left to judges.

The place authorities disagree is how you can cease the development of extra police pursuits, which kill and injure 1000’s of harmless drivers annually throughout the nation, in addition to trigger 1000’s of {dollars} in property harm, together with to taxpayer-financed police automobiles.

Departments face the query of how you can stability the danger of attempting to cease usually harmful folks with defending the general public from those that might cease at nothing to elude police.

“What’s it that we have to do to reply this name?” stated Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido, who has taken a “no plead-down” strategy to fleeing and eluding costs. “These are harmless lives being taken.”

Statistics-keeping measures range throughout businesses, however usually present that extra American drivers are trying to evade officers who try to drag them over. Crashes involving police pursuits jumped 49%, from 16,876 in 2019 to 25,196 in 2023, the final full yr for which statistics had been instantly out there, in accordance with the Nationwide Freeway Site visitors Security Administration.

In Michigan, over that very same time interval, fatalities involving police pursuits greater than doubled, from eight to 18, in accordance with NHTSA.

The variety of instances involving fleeing and eluding offenses in Macomb County has exploded 78% since 2019, from 226 instances to 403 instances in 2024, stated Lucido, who expects this yr’s determine to be even larger.

One current fatality concerned 71-year-old Wendy Crew, who was fatally struck by a driver in late Might in Warren. Anthony Eugene-Douglas Grier, 33, who was charged in Might with second-degree homicide, was fleeing police, reaching as much as 100 mph when he struck the automobile of Crew, a spouse and grandmother.

Lucido and a few police officers are backing a invoice launched by State Rep. Rylee Linting, R-Grosse Ile, that may impose minimal jail sentences for offenders convicted of operating from the cops, although some Democratic lawmakers have expressed considerations about wrestling discretion away from judges.

In response to considerations, Michigan State Police final yr amended its coverage so troopers might solely give chase when there’s possible trigger that the suspect “has dedicated a life-threatening or violent felony.”

The transfer reduces the danger related to high-speed chases, state police officers stated, although detractors stated it’s solely emboldening extra criminals to flee.

“They know in the event that they run, they will get away with any crime as a result of it’s a metaphorical free move to do what they need,” Wyandotte Police Chief Archie Hamilton stated throughout a current Home Judiciary Committee assembly.

An ‘astonishing’ development

The Detroit Information sought the pursuit insurance policies from six Metro Division police businesses, 4 of which — Sterling Heights, Southfield, Dearborn and Warren — shared them. Taylor and Troy denied the general public information requests, citing exceptions that permit them to withhold data that may “disclose operational directions for legislation enforcement officers or brokers” and “reveal the contents of workers manuals supplied for legislation enforcement officers or brokers.”

In Warren, which has had a number of high-profile chases since Might alone, Police Commissioner Eric Hawkins stated the police weigh a number of components earlier than pursuing a suspect, together with the seriousness of the offense, climate circumstances, the time of day and the precise location within the metropolis.

Nonetheless, “each different day we’re seeing somebody who refuses to cease for a minor visitors offense. It’s astonishing,” Hawkins stated.

Within the case involving Crew, police have stated they’re not sure why Grier fled, main police on a chase during which he sped by way of pink lights at 100 mph and at instances drove on sidewalks. However authorities stated he has a protracted historical past of visitors violations, together with driving with a suspended license and a previous fleeing and eluding cost.

Within the July incident that killed Habib, police stated the teenager was behind the wheel of a stolen automobile, driving it at 2:40 a.m. with the lights turned off.

Practically all the 4 insurance policies reviewed included some type of assertion stressing that public security ought to outweigh stopping the suspect, but in addition famous that the insurance policies will not be meant to extend officers’ authorized or civil legal responsibility.

Bystanders in danger

Because the variety of police chases will increase, they’re turning into extra lethal, NHTSA knowledge reveals. The variety of fatalities from police pursuits — together with officer, suspect and bystander deaths — has jumped from 307 in 1982 to 542 in 2023, a 76% enhance over 4 many years.

Bystanders account for greater than 1 / 4 of all fatalities from pursuits involving police automobiles, in accordance with a complete 2024 report by the San Francisco Chronicle. A Detroit Information report, additionally from final yr, concluded that bystanders account for about 30% of deaths from police chases in Michigan.

Mark Stankiewicz, a 59-year-old homeless man, was killed on a wet June 14 night when a person allegedly fleeing police, touring east on Michigan Avenue in Detroit, slammed into him simply after midnight as he tried to cross the road at Cecil and Parkinson.

The GPS tether the suspect was carrying from a previous house invasion case in Jackson County put his pace at greater than 60 mph, in accordance with testimony throughout a current listening to for the suspect, 27-year-old Dave Perez.

Danny Miller, who had recognized Stankiewicz since highschool, was about 2 ft away when the automobile hit his buddy, he testified at Perez’s preliminary examination. Miller heard the automobile coming and tried to warn Stankiewicz.

“It was too late. He obtained hit,” Miller testified, including that he realized instantly after the crash he couldn’t assist his buddy.

“I knew there was nothing I might do for him.”

Pursuits are additionally harmful for the police. In February, a Warren police officer wanted surgical procedure after crashing throughout a pursuit. Authorities stated the suspect’s daughter was within the automobile with him in the course of the chase, and he or she was injured as nicely.

Regardless of the hazards, legislation enforcement officers stated the pursuits are vital in catching suspects.

“These pursuits have led to some apprehensions of some very, very violent and harmful people that have to be held accountable,” stated Hawkins, whose division has seen a number of high-profile chases just lately, together with one involving a former officer accused of driving negligently as he responded to a name {that a} stolen automobile had been noticed within the space.

Prosecutors stated James Burke reached speeds as much as 114 mph earlier than his police cruiser hit an SUV, killing each males inside. In August, a district courtroom decide ordered Burke to face trial on manslaughter costs for the deaths of Cedric Hayden Jr. and Dejuan Pettis.

Attorneys for Hayden and Pettis stated whereas many native law enforcement officials do good work, their shoppers’ deaths had been “the outcomes of dangerous policing, dangerous supervision, and a tradition of substandard policing that was allowed to exist with out accountability,” James Harrington, managing accomplice at Fieger Legislation in Southfield, stated in a press release. “This has to vary. Our group has the suitable to really feel secure and with out concern in direction of our police.”

Coverage and authorized modifications

In March 2024, the Michigan State Police introduced its revised coverage, stating that troopers will solely give chase “if there may be possible trigger to imagine the motive force or occupant of the pursued automobile has dedicated a life-threatening or violent felony.” On the time of the announcement, MSP stated the company prior to now two years had engaged in 235 and 236 pursuits, respectively.

The revised coverage aligns with greatest follow suggestions from the Police Government Analysis Discussion board, a nationwide nonprofit that goals to enhance legislation enforcement security and effectivity by way of coverage reform.

However some police officers argued that the strategy is counterproductive.

“Plenty of these businesses all through our state have a don’t-chase coverage or restrictive coverage, and that’s empowering these criminals to run from the police,” stated Hamilton, the Wyandotte chief.

Hamilton just lately advised lawmakers that his Wayne County group has gone from fewer than 10 police pursuits yearly to round 50 throughout every of the previous few years.

Relatively than limiting police from participating in pursuits, Hamilton stated the Legislature must move legal guidelines that may maintain those that flee accountable. Judges too usually let offenders off with a slap on the wrist for choices that may finish lives, he claimed.

“No person — no one goes to jail for fleeing and eluding in Wayne County, I can promise you that,” Hamilton stated.

That remark generated pushback from county prosecutors.

“The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Workplace routinely costs and convicts defendants of felony fleeing and eluding,” prosecutor’s workplace spokesperson Maria Miller stated in a press release. “We strategy these instances with the seriousness that they deserve as a result of we perceive the actions of those defendants can doubtlessly affect harmless residents. After we have a look at the info and proof and prior file of the defendant, incarceration may be very usually the outcome.”

Hamilton stated he reached out to county officers for statistics about incarceration charges for fleeing and eluding convictions previous to testifying in Lansing, however was advised no such information had been out there. In his greater than 20 years of expertise in Wyandotte legislation enforcement, he stated, he’s by no means seen a suspect get jail time particularly for fleeing and eluding.

In the event that they do go to jail, it’s due to different offenses for which they’ve been convicted, Hamilton stated.

Wayne County Circuit Chief Choose Patricia Fresard stated the courtroom takes fleeing and eluding violations severely and handles them “in accordance with the rule of legislation, and info and circumstances of the case.”

“Ought to new laws be enacted that establishes necessary minimal sentences for fleeing and eluding convictions, the Courtroom will apply the legislation and observe the rules set forth by the Legislature,” Fresard stated in a press release.

In June, Linting, a Grosse Ile Township Republican, and Rep. Mike Mueller, R-Linden, launched a two-bill package deal that may set new minimal penalties for anybody convicted of fleeing and eluding, and obtained a listening to on the proposed laws.

“It’s not going to get higher except we have now stricter legal guidelines,” Linting stated.

Below present legislation, most penalties for fleeing police vary from two years to fifteen years, relying on the severity of the offense, however there is no such thing as a necessary minimal sentence. Linting’s invoice would impose minimal punishments starting from 182 days for fourth-degree felony offenses, which embody most first-time suspects, as much as 5 years in jail for first-degree offenses, or those who trigger dying.

Even Hawkins, whose Warren division makes use of a reasonably conservative coverage towards pursuits, stated he’s 100% supportive of harder penalties for drivers who run from police.

“(It) completely will ship a message that utilizing a 3,000- or 4,000-pound automobile as a weapon in our group is one thing that’s not tolerated, and penalties can be stiff if it occurs,” he stated.

Some Democrats have expressed concern about wresting discretion away from judges.

“We elect judges who’re members from our personal communities to have judicial discretion as a way to deal with instances as they greatest see match,” stated Rep. Kelly Breen, a Democrat from Novi, who expressed doubts about Linting’s laws throughout an Aug. 27 Home Judiciary Committee assembly.

Breen stated not solely do necessary minimums have the potential to “erode constitutional rights,” she stated she hasn’t seen any proof they really result in decreased crime.

“For those who’re somebody who’s scared, you’re going to run (from police), and it may very well be since you’re responsible, however it may very well be since you’re harmless,” Breen stated.

County Prosecutor Lucido, a Republican and former legislator, endorsed Linting’s invoice however stated there must be a caveat so anybody being pursued can use their cellphone to name police and ensure the legitimacy of the visitors cease as a safety measure towards potential impostors posing as respectable law enforcement officials.

“If the Legislature says it’s going to mandate jail time, is it going to forestall folks from breaking the legislation? No, nothing does,” he stated. “However at the very least it can give them a second thought.”

Hamilton stated stronger sentencing guidelines might have prevented profession legal Tobias Catron from grievously injuring a sufferer. In November 2022, Catron, a felon with weapons and assault convictions, led Wyandotte police on a high-speed chase into Detroit.

Hamilton advised lawmakers that Catron, 29, didn’t go to jail for that incident or for a separate fleeing and eluding cost from one other incident. Nevertheless, “he did go to jail, ultimately, for taking pictures somebody within the face.”

‘Blind spots’ and ‘tunnel imaginative and prescient’

To organize law enforcement officials for the split-second, life-or-death choices they might should make when a suspect flees, they bear hours of coaching, each in simulated eventualities and behind the wheel on tracks the place they will follow executing what is known as the precision immobilization method, or PIT, and different maneuvers.

Hawkins, a 35-year legislation enforcement veteran, stated when a suspect flees officers should immediately undergo a psychological guidelines of things that may decide whether or not they pursue and what techniques they might use.

“If we’re attempting to cease an individual who has dedicated a criminal offense, relying on the kind of crime it’s, my response will most likely be completely different if it’s 3 o’clock within the afternoon at 12 (Mile) and Van Dyke, versus 3 o’clock within the morning at 12 and Van Dyke,” Hawkins stated.

Officers are additionally instructed to contemplate whether or not there’s sufficient details about the suspect so legislation enforcement can observe up and make an arrest at a later time, when the suspect isn’t behind the wheel.

Teamwork is vital in serving to to make sure the most secure consequence in a police chase, officers stated. In giant municipalities like Warren, a supervisor on the police station displays each chase — nearly all the time by way of video by way of cameras mounted on the automobile’s sprint — to present the pursuing officer a second, extra goal set of eyes.

“Pursuits are very emotional,” Hawkins stated. “The officer’s eager about loads of issues. Adrenaline is flowing. … They wish to catch the dangerous particular person.

“While you’re within the second, typically the feelings offer you blind spots, and it provides you tunnel imaginative and prescient. (The supervisor) could make some extra rational choices in these extremely emotional sorts of occasions.”

Although Hawkins is conscious his metropolis has had a rash of high-profile police chases since he joined the division final yr, he stated the overall variety of pursuits is down nearly 50% from final yr by way of the primary two-thirds of 2025. And about half of these are in the end known as off, both by the pursuing officer or a supervisor monitoring the chase remotely, he stated.

“There’s a notion that we’re pursuing each single day and our pursuits are going for hours and hours, we chase till the wheels fall off the automobile, however that’s not essentially the case,” Hawkins stated.

Julie Cardi contributed to this report

Initially Printed: September 20, 2025 at 9:23 AM EDT