In the wake of multiple deadly crashes stemming from San Diego police chases, a civilian oversight board on Wednesday recommended that the department revise how it initiates and conducts pursuits.
The Commission on Police Practices recommended the department restrict pursuits to incidents related to violent crime and that chases not be started for infractions or property offenses unless other aggravation factors such as armed resistance are present.
The commission also recommended changing the departments definition of a pursuit and establishing a pursuit review board.
It’s unclear whether the department will implement any of the proposed changes, which drew sharp criticism from the police union when they were first discussed this summer. Chief Scott Wahl has 60 days to respond to the policy suggestions.
The departments pursuit policies came under scrutiny following a crash in 2023 that killed two young boys, Malikai, 8, and Mason Orozco-Romero, 4 and severely injured their mother and another woman.
A 20-year-old man who was allegedly evading police slammed his car into the vehicle carrying the boys and the two women. That pursuit was initiated after officers spotted a broken headlight.
Last August, as the commission was asking the department to consider preliminary policy recommendations, a San Diego police officer was killed and a second was injured when they were hit by a car while responding to a vehicle pursuit.
Officer Austin Machitar and his partner were responding to a call when a vehicle driven by a 16-year-old boy slammed into the side of his police unit. Police had been chasing the teen but the pursuit was quickly called off because of high speeds. Machitar died and the driver of the vehicle, Edgar Giovanny Oviedo, also was killed.
The Police Officers Association has strongly opposed the proposed set of recommendations. “The recommendations presented by the CPP are misguided and pose significant risks to our community,” the association said last summer in a statement.
On Wednesday, the commission moved forward to formally recommend the changes.
Before making its recommendations in July, the commission reviewed data from more than 1,000 pursuits, finding that around 60% of the chases began after a suspected infraction had occurred.
Nearly one out of every five pursuits resulted in a crash with injuries arising in nearly 75% of those incidents, the commission found in its study.
Pursuits for misdemeanor offensesshould be rare unless there is clear evidence that the suspect poses an immediate danger to the public, the commission wrote in its recommendations.
Pursuits of suspects wanted on non-violent warrants also was discouraged.
The potential danger of the pursuit itself should be lower than the danger posed by allowing the suspect to remain at large, the commission said.
The commission also recommended that the department establish a pursuit review board and include in its accident report analysis any incidents, such as a death or property damage, that may have occurred after the pursuit was ended. The department should also explore using advanced technologies like GPS tracking and drone surveillance, the commission said.
Chief Scott Wahl has 60 days to respond to the commissions recommendations.
Last summer a police spokesperson said the department had been evaluating the preliminary suggestions.
“We are ensuring due diligence so that any changes that are implemented do not adversely affect public and officer safety,” said spokesperson Ashley Nicholes. “Any decisions will not be made lightly or in haste but rather after considering all of the facts and the best interests of all involved.”