Vehicle Pursuit Statistics

POLICE TRANSPARENCY:
2024 VEHICULAR PURSUIT REPORT

Since vehicular pursuits create the potential in which officers, members of the public, and/or the suspect may be killed or seriously injured, pursuits shall only be initiated and continued in accordance with the provisions set forth by Division policy.

The decision to initiate a pursuit is a difficult one. The decision to terminate a pursuit is even more difficult. Professional judgment and common sense are the determining factors.

Additional Data & Resources

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Traffic Data
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Application of Force Report
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Public Data
Vehicular Pursuit Policy
Personnel Demographics

2024 Statistics

Pursuits decreased slightly (3.6%) from 2023 to 2024. The previous five-year average was 70.4 pursuits; 2024 was a 52% increase over the five-year average.

Officers’ reasons for initiating a pursuit were similar from 2023 to 2024 with one exception – pursuing a stolen vehicle dropped from 37.7% in 2023 to 17.76% in 2024.

Analysis of the age of the pursued reveals an average age of 28, down by roughly 2 years from the  previous four-year period. Analysis of 2024 pursuit data revealed the youngest age, and the average age of a pursued individuals were all younger than the previous year. The Police Division continues to seek enhanced pursuit training opportunities for sworn personnel and continuously evaluates pursuit data for policy revision considerations and officer development. These measures in conjunction with proper equipment allocation, policy transparency, and community feedback enhance community safety during pursuit events.

[DOWNLOAD: 2024 Vehicular Pursuit Data]

Incident Occurrences & Location

During calendar year 2024, the Henrico County Police Division was involved in one hundred seven (107) individualized pursuits, as compared to one hundred eleven (111) pursuits in 2023. Twelve (12) pursuits resulted in supplemental officers continuing the pursuit after the initiating officer was no longer the primary pursuing officer. Any officer assuming the primary pursuing officer’s role submits a pursuit after-action report, capturing relative information for that officer’s involvement in the pursuit. The report is subsequently submitted through the involved officer’s chain of command for forwarding to the Quality Assurance Unit for review and analysis. Therefore, some statistical data contained within this report may exceed the maximum number of individualized pursuits.   Officers initiated pursuits for both individualized and multiple combinations of justification criteria. Reckless driving existed in 58.88% of encounters, felony offenses in 14.95% of encounters, violent misdemeanor violations in 2.80% of encounters, stolen / unauthorized use vehicle in 17.76% of encounters, and wanted persons in the vehicle in 5.61% of encounters.   Wednesday and Friday were the primary days of the week for an initiated pursuit, at 18.9%. Tuesday and Saturday were the next two primary days of week for a pursuit, at 14.9% each. Monday and Thursday were the third most popular at 11.2%. Sunday was the least likely day for a pursuit at 10.3%.   Passenger cars were pursued in 55.14% of the incidents, SUVs in 18.69%, pickup trucks in 5.61%, motorcycles in 18.69%, minivans in .93%, and ATVs in .93%. No commercial motor vehicles were pursued in 2024.   The average age of a person arrested or identified as being involved in a pursuit was 28.3 years old. The youngest involved person was 14 years old and the most mature was 55 years old. Analysis of 2024 pursuit data reveal the youngest age and the average age of a pursued individuals were all younger than the previous year. Pursued individuals were immediately apprehended, or promptly identified and arrested shortly thereafter, in 58.49% of the incidents. Property damage crashes resulted in 19.63% of pursuits and personal injury crashes resulted in 8.41% of pursuits. There was not a fatality crash during the calendar year. Officers in Central Station initiated 24.4% of the total pursuits for the Police Division in 2024. South Station Officers engaged in 30.3% of the Division’s pursuits in the same period. West Station Officers engaged in 45.4% of the pursuits.
Time of Incident Officer reported data reveals the 6 PM to midnight time frame was the most prevalent time for a pursuit to be initiated, accounting for 42.06% of all the reported pursuits. Noon to 6 PM and midnight to 6 AM had similar quantities of pursuit encounters, 26.17% and 23.36% respectively. The least prevalent time period for a pursuit was 6 AM to noon at 8.41%.   Distance   The average travel distance of pursuits initiated in 2024 was 3.49 miles from initiation to conclusion, a nominal decrease from the previous year. Nearly half (43%) of all the pursuits proceeded less than two miles. Half of the pursuits traveled between two and ten miles, of which nearly one third of pursuits traveled between two to five miles. Only 6.54% of pursuits continued greater than ten miles.

Reasoning

Pursuits are initiated utilizing five primary observational and informational based criteria. There are also many environmental factors that contribute to the officer’s final decision to pursue a fleeing vehicle. An analysis of statistical data revealed that 58.88% of pursuits were initiated for driving behavior that was flagrantly reckless prior to the officer’s activation of emergency equipment. A vehicle operator that attempted to commit or had committed a violent felony, a violent misdemeanor, or was suspected of being armed and dangerous led to a pursuit in 17.75% of incidents. Wanted individuals were pursued in 5.61% of incidents. Stolen vehicles were pursued in 17.76% of incidents.   Pursued individuals provided various reasons for fleeing from law enforcement personnel. Those making a statement provided the following routine reasons: intoxicated (2.8%); possess stolen vehicle (5.6%); scared (6.5%); possess stolen property (1.85%); or wanted for outstanding warrants (10.2%). Greater than fifty percent (58.33%) provided no reason at all for fleeing.

Pursuit Conclusions & Non-Pursuits

Slightly less than thirty percent of pursued individuals voluntarily stopped for officers. Officers or their supervisors terminated forty-three percent of the initiated pursuits. Pursuit terminations are determined after the evaluation of many factors, including environmental conditions, traffic conditions, the severity of the traffic offense or contributory criminal activity, license and wanted status of the offender, and acquired knowledge of the traffic offender. Clearly defined policies and procedures provide checks and balances for protecting public safety by preventing unauthorized pursuits. There were seven (7) attempts in 2024 to bring pursuits to a conclusion by deployment of a tire deflation device, half the quantity of the previous year. Officers utilized the Precision Immobilization Technique (PIT) twice during the calendar year, half the quantity of the previous year. Officers had one hundred-three (103) instances in which emergency equipment was activated and disregarded by the motorist, but the officer chose not to continue engaging a fleeing suspect as it did not meet established policy criteria. The danger to the public outweighed the severity of the offense in each of these instances, so emergency equipment was deactivated. The number of motorists disregarding a lawful traffic stop was consistent from 2023 to 2024 and across patrol stations.

POLICY

The authority of a law enforcement officer to engage in vehicular pursuits stems from the duty to apprehend law violators. When officers engage in vehicular pursuits utilizing emergency lights and siren, they shall do so in accordance with existing statutes and this directive. Since vehicle pursuits create the potential in which officers, citizens, and/or the suspect may be killed or seriously injured, pursuits shall only be initiated and continued in accordance with the provisions set forth herein.

The decision to initiate a pursuit is a difficult one. The decision to terminate a pursuit is even more difficult. Professional judgment and objective reasonableness are the determining factors. It shall be noted that a police officer and police supervisor can be held civilly liable for damages and injuries that occur during a pursuit. The pursuit policy for vessels is the same as vehicles.

DEFINITIONS

  • Active School Zone: School zone that is controlled by signs with flashing yellow lights indicating a reduction in speed or in residential areas where school zones are denoted by road signage and the school is actively accepting or dismissing students.
  • Armed and Dangerous: A person who has committed or attempted to commit any offense involving the unlawful discharge, display, possession, or use of a weapon or explosive device in such a manner as to provide an officer reason to believe that the person presents an immediate threat to the public.
  • Reckless Driving: Irrespective of the maximum speeds permitted by law, any person who drives a vehicle on any highway recklessly or at a speed or in a manner so as to endanger the life, limb, or property of any person (Code of Virginia § 46.2-852).
  • Terminate: To discontinue or stop pursuing a vehicle.
  • Tracking Devices: Electronic devices able to transmit the vehicle’s location in real-time. The device may be a permanent vehicle component, a temporary vehicle component, or an electronic device within the vehicle.
  • Vehicular Pursuit: An active attempt by a law enforcement officer operating an emergency vehicle while displaying flashing, blinking, or alternating emergency lights, and sounding an intermittent siren to apprehend a suspect who is actively attempting to elude apprehension while operating a moving vehicle.
  • Violent Felony: Any felony involving the use or threatened use of physical force or violence against another person including, but not limited to, murder, manslaughter, mob-related offenses, rape, kidnapping or abduction, robbery, malicious wounding, escape by force, placing or detonating a destructive/explosive device or bomb.

Forcible Stopping Techniques

  • Intentional Contact – The act of deliberately making contact with a suspect’s vehicle for the purpose of containing the suspect’s vehicle. Intentional contact may be used as part of a pre-planned vehicle containment or dynamic vehicle containment. Intentional contact is a trained containment technique to be performed only on slow moving or stationary vehicles. For additional information on Intentional Contact see LP-08B Vehicle Containment.
  • Precision Immobilization Technique (PIT): The intentional act of utilizing a Police Division vehicle in a prescribed manner to physically contact a fleeing vehicle in order to force it from its original course of travel to a stopped position.
  • Ramming – The intentional act of using a Police Division vehicle to deliberately contact another vehicle with the intent of preventing or impeding the other vehicle from moving or fleeing. PIT and Intentional Contact are not included in ramming.
  • Roadblocks: Means the establishment of a barrier across all or a part of the traveled portion of a roadway. This barrier may be moving (as in the case of vehicles placed in front of a fleeing vehicle), or stationary. Roadblocks are frequently established using police vehicles as a barrier but may utilize other objects.
  • Tire Deflation Device: A device designed to stretch across the roadway with hollow spikes designed to puncture tires of vehicles that run over them, slowly deflating air from the tire slowing the vehicle and ultimately bringing it to a stop.