Police Pursuits: Book Review
Police Pursuits: What We Know
by Geoffery P. Alpert, Dennis Jay Kenney, Roger G. Dunham, and William C. Smith; published by the Police Executive Research Forum, Washington, DC 2000
Reviewed by: Marci S. Johns, J.D.
There are many studies concerning police pursuits available for police leaders, officers and policy makers. The authors of Police Pursuits: What We Know, clearly identify the failure to include research and analysis concerning the public and the offender as integral components of the police pursuit as a deficiency associated with these previous police pursuit studies. These perspectives are crucial to the overall reform and implementation of police pursuit policies and attempting to elude legislation. The authors address this void with a well-written text that includes thorough, up-to-date police pursuit research from diverse sites and a national survey, as well as an examination of police pursuits not only from the police perspective, but also from the perspectives of the public and the offender.
The authors' combined career experience creates an interesting myriad of police pursuit perspectives that cumulatively enhance the quality of the work. The perspectives they represent suggest the basis for their successful identification of the importance of studies including the public and the offenders. Geoffrey Alpert is a professor of justice at the University of South Carolina and has an extensive background in researching the areas of police use of force and pursuit driving. Roger Dunham is a professor of sociology at the University of Miami, Florida and has an extensive background in researching policing issues. Dennis Jay Kenney is a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. His background includes much research in policing issues, as well as a career as a Florida police officer. Finally, William C. Smith is an attorney whose background includes extensive publication on civil liability and risk management issues related to police pursuit operations.
While the authors do recognize the contributions of previous studies, they begin their examination of police pursuits with two introductory chapters that are critical of previous studies of police pursuits. The authors clearly identify the flaws associated with each study and present a very succinct, thorough and informative history and analysis of these previous studies. They begin with an examination of the first study on pursuit driving conducted in the 1980s by the California Highway Patrol, followed by the Miami, Miami-Dade studies, Baltimore county studies and Minnesota and Illinois studies all conducted during the past decade.
The two introductory chapters are followed by the core of the book, which focuses on site-specific research done in Miami-Dade County, Florida; Omaha, Nebraska; Aiken County, South Carolina; and Mesa, Arizona. Chapter 5 is a comparatively lengthy chapter including data collected and an analysis of police perspectives of pursuit driving. Interestingly, the authors divide chapter 5 into three data summary sections including recruits', officers' and supervisors' perspectives regarding pursuit driving.
Clearly, the standout chapters of the book are chapters 6 and 7. In chapter 6, the authors address public opinion regarding pursuit driving and justify the importance of its inclusion in any police pursuit study. The chapter begins with a description of the data collection methods and results, followed by a very short analysis of the data. The authors include thought-provoking questions for policy makers contemplating a reform in pursuit policies and attempting to elude legislation. This research is invaluable as public opinion is certainly an important and ignored component in the reformation process.
In chapter 7, the authors present what they regard as the first systematic research of successful and unsuccessful police pursuit offenders. This research eradicates the need for speculation among policy makers as to why offenders flee and the potential effect of stiffer penalties for eluding police. Overall, chapters 6 and 7 offer police leaders, officers and policy makers a very unique and much needed perspective very useful in considering and implementing a police pursuit policy or attempting to elude legislation. Unfortunately, chapters 6 and 7 are only 16 combined pages in length. Most of chapters 6 and 7 contain the actual data collected by the authors. The analysis and suggested application of the data consists of only a few pages, leaving much to be contemplated by the reader.
The authors close out the book with an examination of policy implications and suggested legislative assistance. Surprisingly, the research presented in the standout chapters of the book is not fully utilized in this final chapter, which consists of only 11 pages, excluding a model of policy elements.
While Police Pursuits: What We Know provides excellent summaries of police pursuit data and a clear discussion of legal terms and precepts, with minimal legalese, the most successful component of this work is the authors' identification of a crucial deficiency in the study of police pursuit driving. The original research presented is far more than a further accumulation of knowledge about pursuit driving. It provides valuable insight into virtually ignored areas of pursuit driving.