Police pursuit policies
Pursuit policies for the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office and Trotwood Police Department have many similarities:
- Both have language that state that their agency "recognizes that police pursuits are inherently dangerous and pose a risk to the safety of the citizens, as well as members of the police department."
- The sheriff's office's policy states, among many criteria, that a pursuit is allowed if "the pursuing deputy has probable cause to believe that the suspect has committed a felony involving the infliction or threatened infliction of serious physical harm."
- Trotwood's policy expands on that, adding that "the person(s) to be pursued is committing or has committed a violent felony or action that creates an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury to others if the person(s) is not apprehended immediately."
- Assault against a police officer — in this case, ramming two police vehicles — constitutes a felony.
- Both policies say a continued pursuit must be re-evaluated during the chase, with Trotwood's stating: "If the risk to the public from continuation of the pursuit outweighs the risk of discontinuation, at any point, the pursuit shall be terminated."
An early review indicates Trotwood police followed procedures in Thursday’s high-speed pursuit that ended with the death of pedestrian Agyasi J. Ector, a department spokesman said Friday.
“Our preliminary investigation shows that the officers acted appropriately and according to the pursuit procedures,” said Trotwood police Capt. John Porter. “We’re still investigating that, and that’s a separate investigation that’s going on now at this time also.”
Officials have not released the names or other details about the two 20-something males they were pursuing. Both were injured when their black sedan swerved across Shiloh Springs Road, hit Ector as he walked on a sidewalk and snapped a telephone pole before landing in a ditch near Lowe’s. They were treated and released from a local hospital, but remained in police custody Friday.
The suspects could be charged with murder, felonious assault and various traffic violations this weekend, Porter said.
Ector, known to family and friends as AJ, is the fifth person in the Dayton-area to die since 2011 because of high-speed pursuits.
The most recent statistics from the National Highway Traffic Administration indicate there were 4,743 pedestrian fatalities in 2012, a 6.4 percent increase over 2011’s 4,457 for a third straight yearly increase. But those numbers are under-reported and aren’t broken down to show innocent bystanders in police pursuits, said Geoffrey Alpert, a professor at the University of South Carolina who has researched high-risk police activities for more than a quarter-century and written 15 books.
Thursday’s chase started in Harrison Twp. just after 2 p.m. when Montgomery County Sheriff’s deputies attempted to stop one of the suspects for questioning in connection to a drug investigation, Porter said, adding there was no arrest warrant. But the man got into the car and reportedly rammed two cruisers before speeding toward Trotwood.
Trotwood’s portion of the pursuit lasted about three minutes when the suspects’ vehicle reached speeds of 100 mph along eastbound Shiloh Springs Road, Porter said. He added that the lead Trotwood cruiser was perhaps a quarter-mile behind the suspects’ vehicle when it crashed.
“It wasn’t the officer that lost control in this particular situation,” Porter said. “The reason that we engaged in the pursuit was because this driver had just committed two counts of felonious assault against a (sheriff’s deputy) in Harrison Twp. Therefore, it was a violent felony.”
Local and national law enforcement experts say police pursuit policies have tightened in recent years, but that assaulting a police officer meets most departments’ criteria to chase.
“High-speed police pursuits are a high liability function for law enforcement agencies in America,” said Cedarville University professor Patrick Oliver, a 27-year law enforcement veteran who served as police chief in Fairborn, Grandview Heights and Cleveland, and spent 11 years as an Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper. “Those policies fit into one of three categories. They’re either prohibited … or they’re restrictive within certain parameters, or they’re permissive.”
Police pursuit in the United States has a long history, Alpert said.
“It started out back in the wild west days, cowboys chasing bad guys and it’s evolved from horses to cars; and in the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s, it was chase them until the wheels fall off,” he said. “The line in the sand is a violent crime. Once you’ve committed a violent crime, that kind of opens the flood gates for risk taking on the part of the police.”
Ector’s uncle, Harry Ector, said his nephew was just walking to work at Trotwood’s Office Depot when the accident happened. A manager at Office Depot said he was not allowed to comment.
“This just shouldn’t have happened,” Harry Ector said. “He probably had his earbuds in and couldn’t hear the high-speed chase and everything.”
Ector said his nephew — whose first name is pronounced Ah-JAW-see — worked hard and lived with another uncle who had suffered a stroke.
“He was a real comical and funny kid. He always had a joke or something,” Harry Ector said. “He was a good kid. He was just a happy and good person. He didn’t do anything wrong. He enjoyed life.”
Ector was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, Porter said.
“Because of the excessive speed of this (driver), I’m not sure if anybody would have been able to evade and move away,” he said. “(The driver) was out of control.”
Montgomery County Sheriff Phil Plummer declined to comment on the investigation or the effort of his deputies and the RANGE task force to speak with the driver of the car. Plummer’s office referred all questions to Trotwood police. Both agencies are refusing to provide related 911 calls, cruiser cam video and the suspects’ identities and criminal histories, saying that those items are part of their ongoing investigation.
Porter did indicate the sheriff’s office just recently became aware of the driver’s identity and that he had a history of fleeing from police.
“From my understanding, (deputies) were not aware of his residence or where he was living,” Porter said. “So when they found out where the vehicle was at, they attempted to locate and stop this individual.”
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