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Sheriff to halt DUI chases as unsafe

Chasing drunken drivers compounds the risk to others on the road, reasons new Sheriff David Gee.

By SHANNON COLAVECCHIO-VAN SICKLER
Published January 19, 2005

TAMPA - Continuing a law enforcement trend, Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee said Tuesday he will tighten up his agency's pursuit policy to forbid chases of persons suspected of drunken driving.

Gee said the change is aimed at preventing high-speed chases that end in death or serious injury, often to innocent motorists who happen to be on the road when a suspect and deputies come barreling along.

"You've already got somebody who's impaired, and now you're going to chase them at 80 to 90 mph?" Gee said Tuesday during an interview with the St. Petersburg Times editorial board.

"It's probably better to let that person go than to push them to the limit."

The planned change comes as the Temple Terrace Police Department faces the threat of litigation from the family of a 50-year-old Tampa man who died during a recent high-speed chase.

Hillsborough's stricter pursuit standard also reflects a move by law enforcement agencies across Florida, which are raising the threshold for pursuits.

For example, St. Petersburg police can't pursue a vehicle unless it is necessary to apprehend someone suspected of a violent felony. Tampa police can't pursue a driver just for traffic violations or misdemeanors. They also are not allowed to chase DUI suspects.

Gee said he discussed the policy change with 1,000 deputies during a swearing-in ceremony on Saturday, but he won't put it into effect until he speaks with the remaining 1,000 deputies during a second swearing-in on Friday. "It's important that I talk to all of them first, so that they understand my reasoning," Gee said. "know some of them won't like it. And listen, if everybody that's drunk starts running when deputies try to pull them over, we may have to rethink it."

The Sheriff's Office currently does not allow deputies to go after drivers suspected of misdemeanors or traffic violations. Both the Sheriff's Office and Tampa Police Department allow patrol officers to chase those suspected of auto thefts and violent felonies.

But unlike the TPD, the Sheriff's Office has until now allowed deputies to chase drunken driving suspects.

Gee said forbidding DUI chases is largely a public safety move. But it's also part of his commitment to better coordinate with Hillsborough's other law enforcement agencies on high-liability issues such as the use of deadly force and Tasers.

His command staff met last week with Tampa Police Chief Steve Hogue and Hogue's command staff to forge a stronger relationship between agencies. In that meeting, they agreed to reach out to the Temple Terrace and Plant City police departments in coming weeks.

"The communities in Tampa and Hillsborough, and Temple Terrace and Plant City, are really not that different," Hogue said. "And it's important that we have policies that are as similar as possible."

Temple Terrace police officials say their pursuit policy is "in line with" the guidelines set out by the Florida Police Chiefs Association. But the association doesn't have an actual policy; it merely keeps on hand examples of policies adopted by law enforcement agencies around the state.

The Temple Terrace chase this month started when an officer saw Dwayne Devon Brown, 27, cut across two lanes of traffic in a red Mitsubishi with a modified muffler.

Police officials say that when the officer tried to pull Brown over at Busch Boulevard and 56th Street, Brown turned off his lights and kept going, racing his Mitsubishi at two patrol cars as he went the wrong way down Busch Boulevard.

The chase ended 10 miles away in Tampa, when Brown crashed into George Galindo's white Buick near St. Joseph's Hospital.

Galindo died, and his brother and sister-in-law were seriously injured.

Shannon Colavecchio-Van Sickler can be reached at 813 226-3373 or svansickler@sptimes.com

[Last modified January 19, 2005, 00:32:23]