NEW YORK — The NYPD says it’s going on the offensive, targeting dangerous criminal suspects trying to run from police, allowing more officers to pursue suspects in department vehicles.
There were a couple of police chases over the weekend, including one in Washington Heights on Sunday that ended with an overturned vehicle, evidence that chases can be dangerous, especially in crowded parts of the city. But the department said chases are a valuable tool in catching criminal suspects, under the right conditions.
“We are not going to allow this to happen anymore. Our training, our experience, we’re pretty good at it and we’re going to continue to stop cars and bikes that are breaking the law in the city,” said NYPD Patrol Chief John. Chell in an exclusive interview with our sister network NBC New York.
Chell said the same chase in Washington Heights that ended in the crash also led to the arrest of a man on parole who allegedly had a gun. In another chase, a driver in the Bronx crashed into multiple cars, including a police cruiser, toppling scaffolding before being arrested.
“We’re not going to let you walk away. We’re going to be compassionate, we’re going to be kind, we’re going to give people breaks. But breaking the law, guns, shootings, gang members, theft with these cars and bikes, we won’t have it anymore.” It’s over,” Chell said.
The NYPD is also using new tools to track criminal suspects, such as aviation technology.
“So some of our activities, by definition, are activities, but it’s aviation, and we’re loosening up and it allows us to mitigate any accidents in the community,” Chell told NBC 4. “It keeps our police officers safe, it gets the job done. . And it’s showing the difference.”
Chell said safety remains paramount and chases can be called off at any time.
“The supervisor has to take a lot of things into account: the time of day, the location, the weather, the type of crime. We have extensive training on this through the police academy and from police officers who are currently working and receive updates,” he said.
The pursuit and arrest of a man on a scooter in the Bronx on Monday morning led police to find a weapon. Chief Chell believes that those types of arrests will lead to a reduction in crime.
“This person is on a bike with a gun. What do you think he’s going to do? He’ll probably rob someone. He’ll probably shoot someone. And these efforts are why crime has gone down,” Chell said, noting that shootings are down 30% in August so far.
It comes as the frequency of NYPD vehicle chases has skyrocketed this year, according to a report. There were more than 300 cases of police persecution in the first three months of 2023, according to a analysis of 911 data by The City. Compare that to 214 total chases for all of 2022.
The manhunt also corresponds to when Chell took over as patrol leader in December 2022, reported the city. At the beginning of August, an oversight board of the NYPD He called for tougher penalties for dangerous police activities. The Commission to Combat Police Corruption said in your report that the persecutions that led to harm must also be considered as cases of unjustified use of force.
The New York Police Department has said that training is key when it comes to chases, as its community response team gets quarterly training on chases.
