Fatalities and injuries resulting from high-speed chases have prompted an Oklahoma City lawmaker to request a House study on policies guiding law enforcement pursuits across the state.
A Tulsa World investigation has sought to shed light on those policies in the past five years following the deaths of an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper as well as eluding drivers, uninvolved civilians and others.
Rep. Ajay Pittman, D-Oklahoma City, said her goal is to figure out what practices could be adopted to reduce the possibility of deaths and injuries.
“There are issues that must be addressed,” Pittman said. “There are concerns regarding these types of policies, as well as the transparency around them.
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“This study is not being requested to condemn anyone. Our focus is to find ways to resolve our public safety issues, prevent deaths and better serve our communities statewide.”
Reached by phone on Tuesday afternoon, Pittman said her request for an interim study was prompted by several incidents in her district involving the Oklahoma City Police Department.
One resulted in the death of a high school classmate who had just dropped off her children at school when she was hit by a stolen truck trying to evade police, Pittman said.
Pittman serves on House committees related to transportation and public safety.
She said in a news release that the study’s objective would be to voice and address concerns from residents and law enforcement leaders to better understand how Oklahoma law enforcement responds in a high-speed pursuit.
“I hope to find a policy that is safe for the public and the responding officers. … We have seen several injuries and fatalities as a result of high-speed chases in highly populated areas,” Pittman said in the request to House Speaker Charles McCall.
The request highlights three areas of concentration for the study:
Examine the causes and policies that warrant the approval of high-speed chases in metropolitan areas;
Expose the aftermath of victims, and identify how data collection is stored and analyzed;
Explore options and solutions to preventative measures that will improve the outcomes of leaving innocent victims behind
Pittman said she wants to look at policies that other states and large cities have implemented after “a series of deaths and injuries in Oklahoma involving officers in pursuit of a speeding vehicle.”
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol fought for a year against requests for records, explanations of reporting processes and answers to questions about policies — prompting Tulsa World to file litigation to compel the agency to adhere to a ruling in a lawsuit the newspaper won in 2010.
Department of Public Safety Commissioner John Scully, who oversees the OHP, repeatedly has turned down interview requests from the newspaper to discuss policies, practices and deadly chases.
Decisions on interim studies are expected by July 25. Pittman urges residents to reach out to her office if they wish to participate.
Related: Oklahoma Highway Patrol pursuit ends in double-fatal crash
