Policy Text
Policy
307Garden Grove Police Department
Policy Manual
Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2024/09/25, All Rights Reserved.
Published with permission by Garden Grove Police
DepartmentVehicle Pursuits - 1Vehicle Pursuits
307.1 PURPOSE AND SCOPE
This policy provides guidelines for vehicle pursuits in order to protect the safety of involved officers,
the public, and fleeing suspects.
307.1.1 DEFINITIONS
Blocking - A low-speed tactic where one or more authorized police department emergency
vehicles intentionally restrict the movement of a suspect vehicle, with the goal of containment or
preventing a pursuit. Blocking is not boxing in or a roadblock.
Boxing-in - A tactic designed to stop a suspect's moving vehicle by surrounding it with law
enforcement vehicles and then slowing all vehicles to a stop.
Failure to yield - refers to the actions of a vehicle operator who fails to stop or respond to
the emergency light(s) and siren of a law enforcement vehicle. Generally, the vehicle operator
continues to travel forward at or below the speed limit, observes traffic control devices and other
applicable rules of the road, and does not change the direction of travel in an evasive manner.
Pursuit Intervention - An attempt to stop the suspect's ability to continue to flee in a
vehicle through tactical application of technology, tire deflation devices, blocking or vehicle
intercept, boxing-in, the PIT (known as Pursuit Intervention Technique or Precision Immobilization
Technique), ramming, or roadblock procedures.
Pursuit Intervention Technique (PIT) - A low-speed tactic intentionally applied to cause the
suspect vehicle to spin out and terminate the pursuit.
Ramming - The deliberate act of impacting a suspect's vehicle with another vehicle to functionally
damage or otherwise force the suspect's vehicle to stop.
Roadblocks - A tactic designed to stop a suspect's vehicle by intentionally placing an emergency
vehicle or other immovable object in the path of the suspect's vehicle. Roadblocks are not
authorized.
Tire deflation device - A device that extends across the roadway designed to puncture the tires
of the pursued vehicle, sometimes referred to as spike strips.
Terminate - To discontinue a pursuit or stop chasing fleeing vehicles.
Trail - Following the path of the pursuit at a safe speed while obeying all traffic laws and without
activating emergency equipment. If the pursuit is at a slow rate of speed, the trailing vehicle
will maintain sufficient distance from the pursuit vehicles so as to clearly indicate an absence of
participation in the pursuit
Vehicle Pursuit - An event involving one or more law enforcement officers attempting to
apprehend a suspect, who is attempting to avoid arrest while operating a motor vehicle by using
high-speed driving or other evasive tactics, such as driving off a highway, turning suddenly, or
driving in a legal manner but willfully failing to yield to an officer's signal to stop.
Garden Grove Police Department
Policy Manual
Vehicle Pursuits
Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2024/09/25, All Rights Reserved.
Published with permission by Garden Grove Police
DepartmentVehicle Pursuits - 2Low Profile Police Vehicles - is defined as a fully marked black and white emergency vehicle
with interior emergency lighting only (no overhead light bar).
Unmarked Police Vehicles - is defined as a vehicle with no police department markings
containing interior emergency lighting only such as the GSU vehicles.
307.2 POLICY
It is the policy of this department to balance the importance of apprehending suspects who
unlawfully flee from law enforcement against the risks associated with vehicle pursuits.
307.3 OFFICER RESPONSIBILITIES
Vehicle pursuits shall only be conducted using authorized police department emergency vehicles
that are equipped with and displaying emergency lighting and sirens as required by Vehicle Code
§ 21055. Officers are responsible for continuously driving with due regard and caution for the
safety of all persons and property (Vehicle Code § 21056).
In recognizing the potential danger to public safety created by vehicular pursuits, no officer or
supervisor shall be criticized or disciplined for deciding not to engage in a vehicular pursuit
because of the risk involved. This includes circumstances where department policy would permit
the initiation or continuation of the pursuit. Likewise, police officers who conduct pursuits consistent
with department policy will be strongly supported by the department in any subsequent review of
actions taken in the course of a pursuit.
Vehicular pursuit situations are not predictable, and decisions made pursuant to this policy will
be evaluated according to the totality of the circumstances reasonably available at the time of
the pursuit.
Officers must remember the most important factors to the successful conclusion of a pursuit
are proper self-discipline and sound professional judgment. Officers should exercise their sound
discretion and judgment in an effort to provide for the safe conduct of the pursuit. Officers’ conduct
during the course of a pursuit must be objectively reasonable; what a reasonable officer would do
under the circumstances. An unreasonable individual desire to apprehend a fleeing suspect at all
costs has no place in professional law enforcement.
This policy will be reviewed annually or earlier as conditions, technology or court decisions dictate.
307.3.1 WHEN TO INITIATE A PURSUIT
A motor vehicle pursuit may be initiated when a driver, who is known or reasonably suspected to
have committed a crime or fail to yield to the officer’s signal to stop, exhibits an intention to avoid
apprehension by use of evasive tactics. An officer's reasonable suspicion must be based upon
the facts reasonably perceived by the officer at that time.
The following factors individually and collectively should be considered in deciding whether to
initiate a pursuit:
Garden Grove Police Department
Policy Manual
Vehicle Pursuits
Copyright Lexipol