Wednesday, October 5, 2011

California - Reporting law for police pursuits not enforced

OFF THE WIRE
BY: Brian Indrelunas and Kate McGinty
Source: mydesert.com

Fred Ray Bradley Jr., 29, was killed during a high-speed chase with Palm Springs police in 2005 as he crashed head-on into a retaining wall. A report on Palm Springs police pursuits for 2005 lists zero fatal crashes but one collision-caused death, an example of incomplete and contradictory statistics kept by the state.
Fred Ray Bradley Jr., 29, was killed during a high-speed chase with Palm Springs police in 2005 as he crashed head-on into a retaining wall. A report on Palm Springs police pursuits for 2005 lists zero fatal crashes but one collision-caused death, an example of incomplete and contradictory statistics kept by the state. / Omar Ornelas, The Desert Sun
The state law that requires law enforcement agencies to report pursuits carries no penalties for those who don't comply, and the database created by the law has incomplete and conflicting records.
Agencies are required to report pursuits within 30 days, but a year-to-date report run in late July — 130 days after the crash that killed Cathedral City police Officer Jermaine Gibson — listed zero officer deaths in Cathedral City police chases.

“It was just an oversight,” Cathedral City Police Chief Kevin Conner told The Desert Sun on Aug. 23. “It just slipped through the cracks.”

Police submitted the report later that day.

The Cathedral City police supervisor who oversees a chase usually files the report with his or her superiors in short order, Conner said.

But paperwork was sidelined the night that Gibson was killed.

“As you can imagine, that evening we're taking everybody off work,” Conner said. “We're trying to get people counseling.”

The reporting law itself doesn't list any penalties, and the California Highway Patrol isn't able to take any legal action against agencies that haven't submitted pursuit data.

Any discipline stemming from a late or missing report would have to be set by a police department's own policies, said Cmdr. Fran Clader, a CHP spokeswoman.

“The burden is on the local agency,” Clader said.

The highway patrol is charged with collecting the information so it can provide an annual summary to the Legislature on the number of pursuits, crashes, injuries and deaths.

But even when local agencies provide data, reports from the state's pursuit reporting system contain conflicting information.

Reports on police chases started by Indio and Palm Springs police officers in 2005 each listed zero fatal crashes that year, but each also had one driver of a chased car listed as a collision-caused death.

Also, the number of chases with information on what ends the pursuit, including responses categorized under “other,” amounts to only about 94 percent of the total number of pursuits reported, meaning some information is missing.


Fred Ray Bradley Jr., 29, was killed during a high-speed chase with Palm Springs police in 2005 as he crashed head-on into a retaining wall. A report on Palm Springs police pursuits for 2005 lists zero fatal crashes but one collision-caused death, an example of incomplete and contradictory statistics kept by the state.
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Fred Ray Bradley Jr., 29, was killed during a high-speed chase with Palm Springs police in 2005 as he crashed head-on into a retaining wall. A report on Palm Springs police pursuits for 2005 lists zero fatal crashes but one collision-caused death, an example of incomplete and contradictory statistics kept by the state. / Omar Ornelas, The Desert Sun

      The state law that requires law enforcement agencies to report pursuits carries no penalties for those who don't comply, and the database created by the law has incomplete and conflicting records. Agencies are required to report pursuits within 30 days, but a year-to-date report run in late July — 130 days after the crash that killed Cathedral City police Officer Jermaine Gibson — listed zero officer deaths in Cathedral City police chases. “It was just an oversight,” Cathedral City Police Chief Kevin Conner told The Desert Sun on Aug. 23. “It just slipped through the cracks.” Police submitted the report later that day. The Cathedral City police supervisor who oversees a chase usually files the report with his or her superiors in short order, Conner said. But paperwork was sidelined the night that Gibson was killed. “As you can imagine, that evening we're taking everybody off work,” Conner said. “We're trying to get people counseling.” The reporting law itself doesn't list any penalties, and the California Highway Patrol isn't able to take any legal action against agencies that haven't submitted pursuit data. Any discipline stemming from a late or missing report would have to be set by a police department's own policies, said Cmdr. Fran Clader, a CHP spokeswoman. “The burden is on the local agency,” Clader said. The highway patrol is charged with collecting the information so it can provide an annual summary to the Legislature on the number of pursuits, crashes, injuries and deaths. But even when local agencies provide data, reports from the state's pursuit reporting system contain conflicting information. Reports on police chases started by Indio and Palm Springs police officers in 2005 each listed zero fatal crashes that year, but each also had one driver of a chased car listed as a collision-caused death. Also, the number of chases with information on what ends the pursuit, including responses categorized under “other,” amounts to only about 94 percent of the total number of pursuits reported, meaning some information is missing.