NCJ Number
125701
Date Published
1990
Length
20 pages
Annotation
The contrasts and similarities apparent between urban and rural police pursuit driving are stated.
Abstract
Thinking that a statistical analysis of police pursuit driving from a rural police department perspective could prove insightful, the Kentucky State Police began compiling pursuit driving data from intra-agency teletypes in 1989. The results were then compared with previous pursuit studies done in urban areas. The majority of pursuit-related fatalities in urban and suburban areas are incurred by the fleeing driver, passengers, or uninvolved bystanders. However, the only pursuit-related fatality incurred in the Kentucky study was by a passenger. The event that triggers pursuit in urban areas is traffic violation in more than 90 percent of cases; in rural areas, only 41.8 percent are traffic violations. While alcohol played a role in more than half the cases in urban areas, slightly less than half the pursuits in rural areas were alcohol or drug-related. Pursuits resulting in apprehension were likely to be the same in both rural and urban areas. 3 tables, 2 references.