'Dangerous Foot Pursuits' By Joliet Police Often Not Justified: AG

JOLIET ? Things were so bad at the Joliet Police Department involving police officer foot pursuits that Police Chief Bill Evans received a formal letter from the Illinois Attorney General's Office more than a year and a half ago, notifying the chief of "serious systemic issues that raise immediate concern."

In that letter, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, along with assistant attorneys general Elizabeth Jordan and Hannah Jurowicz of the Special Litigation Bureau in Chicago, explained that that Joliet police needed to take action immediately address its foot pursuit problems.

"In our review, we observed JPD members engage in foot pursuits that were unreasonably risky to themselves and to others," the letter advised. "In several pursuits we reviewed, officers pulled their guns during the pursuit and continued running with guns drawn, and in some cases pointed the gun while running. This practice presents an unreasonable risk of death or serious injury."

The letter from April 28, 2023, is contained within Thursday's 158-page Attorney General's report that found the Joliet Police Department has a pattern of using excessive force against the community and that Joliet police discriminate against Black people and perhaps Latino citizens, based on the Attorney General's five-and-seven year data reviews of Joliet police arrests, traffic stops, vehicle searches and use of force incidents.

"In many cases, the justification for an officer?s foot pursuit did not outweigh the risks it created," the 2023 letter alerted Joliet's upper police command staff. "To the contrary, JPD officers engage in foot pursuits that are both dangerous and unjustified."

"Although our investigation is not yet complete, we have identified a pattern of JPD officers engaging in dangerous foot pursuits that create an unreasonable risk to officer and community safety far beyond that created by the behavior or suspected offense precipitating the chase. The Department urgently needs to correct its foot pursuit practices," the AG's lawyers implored Chief Evans more than a year and a half ago. "Because of the inherent danger posed by foot pursuits, officers need clear guidance on when to engage in foot pursuits, when not to, and what to do to best protect the public and themselves during and after a foot pursuit."

Forty years ago, in 1984, Joliet police officer Martin "Marty" Murrin lost his life during a questionable and ill-advised foot pursuit in the Forest Park area of Joliet's east side.

Street gang member Manuel Salazar, who had an outstanding arrest warrant, ran from a car and Murrin chased after him. Salazar fatally shot the officer five times with Murrin's own gun. After killing the Joliet cop, Salazar made it to Mexico, where he was later captured.

As of April 2023, Joliet did not even have a written policy regarding foot pursuits.

"JPD officers do not currently have this guidance because JPD lacks a foot pursuit policy," the AG's Office declared in its 2023 letter. "It needs one?both to promote public safety and to protect the safety of officers ... Without such a policy, officers lack guidance on acceptable or prohibited behaviors and are not held accountable for dangerous or reckless conduct.

"In the cases that we reviewed, we observed repeated failures of training, tactical errors, a lack of meaningful supervision, and the absence of critical reviews necessary for officer support and accountability."

Here are some of the examples cited by the attorney generals in their April 2023 letter demanding Joliet police take immediate action and implement a foot pursuit policy:

• "In a recent traffic stop initiated ostensibly because of a car?s tinted windows, an officer chased a passenger who fled from the scene. While running, the officer screamed at the fleeing passenger, 'Imma shoot you, motherf*cker! Imma shoot you!' This kind of unjustified threat only escalates the interaction, further activating the fleeing person?s fight-or-flight impulse. From a tactical and safety perspective, this behavior is counterproductive and dangerous."
• "Many of the pursuits we observed ended with officers tackling people to the ground or using other types of force like punching and deploying Tasers. Some of these uses of force occurred even where the underlying suspected offense was low-level and non-violent."

• "Officers use general and common descriptors like 'black hoodie in blue jeans' or 'male black, all black' when communicating over the radio during a chase. Using generic descriptions increases the risk to community members who may be outdoors during the chase, especially when officers lose track of the person being pursued."
• "Officers regularly initiate or continue foot pursuits in high-risk circumstances where there is no immediate threat to public or officer safety, including for example: at night, when there is low visibility of the person being chased or of other dangers that may be present."
• "We also observed many foot pursuits originating out of traffic stops for equipment violations or other low-level offenses. Avoiding or running from officers without any other indication of criminal activity is not enough to justify the risk of a foot pursuit and policies in other jurisdictions prohibit foot pursuits for minor offenses given the inherent danger to officers and the public."
• "In one example of a pursuit, an officer chased a pedestrian who fled after the officer approached him to investigate a report of a suspicious person. Before the officer even began pursuing the person, he can be heard on body-worn camera footage yelling, 'What the f*ck is you running for? You?re not even in trouble.' During this 1 a.m. chase, the officer pulled his gun on the unarmed person, who he identified over the radio as a 'young Hispanic boy.' The officer ultimately charged the child with a curfew violation upon learning his age. A potential curfew violation does not justify a gun-drawn pursuit under the cover of night, nor does a simple report of a suspicious person."

• "In another example highlighting several concerns, a sergeant engaged in a brief vehicle pursuit through a residential neighborhood to detain someone who failed to stop at a stop sign. Following the short pursuit, the driver stopped the car and began to run. The sergeant decided to continue the chase on foot ... The sergeant threatened to tase the man several times during the foot pursuit and unsuccessfully deployed his Taser twice at the fleeing man. The chase ended when the man fell, and the sergeant took him into custody without incident. The man stated that he was not sure why he ran. Ultimately, JPD charged the man with driving with a revoked license and resisting/obstructing a police officer related to the pursuit itself."

• "In another incident reflecting several of these concerns, two officers noticed two teenagers trying to hide as the squad car drove by. When one of the teenagers fled, the officers pursued him by car, initiating a foot pursuit through a residential area after reporting that the teen had a gun. At the conclusion of the chase, body-worn camera footage shows an officer shoot at the person?a 17-year-old with his hands in the air at the time of the shot. The officer?s bullet missed the youth, but struck a residence. In the only after-incident review of this incident OAG is aware of, supervisors justified the shooting by noting that the officer engaged in the pursuit with caution, saw the youth raising his arms at him, and took cover after shooting. These notes are inconsistent with the video, which shows the officer turning corners at high rates of speed and shooting less than one second after the youth comes into partial view with both of his hands in the air. Echoing fatal foot pursuits in other jurisdictions, it is only through luck, not tactical precision or precautions, that this youth or one of the bystander residents in the home was not killed. This level of risk is unacceptable and must be quickly corrected."

Joliet Finalizes Foot Pursuit Policy In November 2023

In closing, the Office of Attorney General asked Joliet's chief to respond by May 12, 2023, "with a timeline for addressing this problem." According to the subsequent documents reviewed by Joliet Patch, the Attorney General issued Joliet police a technical assistance letter in May 2023 and Joliet agreed to expedite its efforts to draft and implement a foot pursuit policy and training.

"Our office and JPD engaged in a series of negotiations regarding the content of the foot pursuit policy, which JPD ultimately finalized and implemented in November 2023. Although reliable data and experience under the new policy will be needed to assess its effectiveness, we commend JPD for taking concrete steps to address our concern," Raoul and his lawyers indicated.

Related Patch coverage of Unlawful Policing Practices In Joliet:

• Joliet Can No Longer Deny History Of Police Misconduct: Todd Wooten
• People Of Color Treated Differently At Joliet Police Traffic Stops: Attorney General
• Joliet Police Department Has Long Pattern Of Excessive Force: Attorney General
• Joliet Police Used Excessive Force At Mexican Independence Day: