Grandview police officers charged with reckless driving during police pursuit

Johnson County (KS) District Attorney Paul Morrison has charged two Grandview police officers involved in a high-speed chase that resulted in serious injuries to an innocent bystander. According to a KCStar article:

“(High-speed) pursuits, under the right circumstances, are necessary and the right thing to do,” he said. “But it shouldn't be over property crimes, it shouldn't be over traffic violations, and it shouldn't be over petty offenses.”

Morrison said that the decision to file charges was difficult but that he was swayed by a review of tapes from cameras mounted inside the police cars. The tapes allegedly showed the officers speeding through several busy intersections without slowing while chasing a car that had turned its lights off. Kansas law requires emergency vehicles to slow or stop at intersections to make sure traffic is clear.

Bring charges in such cases is rare and indicates that the District Attorney feels that the police officers' behavior during the chase was unusually dangerous.

Kansas City, MO, police have recently instituted a more restrictive pursuit policy after review of a pursuit-related collision that killed an area bicyclist in 2003. Kansas City area cyclists were instrumental in calling for a new pursuit policy and serving on the citizen's council that recommended the new policy.

Morrison has been in contact with Kansas City's chief of police and is encouraging the formation of a region-wide police pursuit policy similar to Kansas City's new pursuit policy.