We came across a viral video out of Georgia where a police officer chased a motorcyclist for about three minutes at speeds over 100 miles per hour before the motorcyclist eventually made the wise move to pull over. As the interaction unfolds, the motorcyclist tells the officer that it’s illegal for him to pursue a motorcyclist going over 100 miles per hour. Needless to say, that gotcha attempt didn’t fly with the police officer, and the motorcyclist was placed under arrest.
However, the motorcyclist’s statement does bring up an interesting point. When are police allowed to pursue you, and when should a pursuit be called off? We look at the rules regarding police pursuits in Minnesota in today’s blog.
When Can Police Pursue A Vehicle?
There is no magic speed where an officer is legally required to call off a pursuit of a suspect. It’s possible that the pursuit goes against department or state-wide policy, but that doesn’t mean a driver will have their case thrown out because an officer did end up pursuing a suspect despite acting against standard pursuit regulations. You can’t just hit the gas and escape responsibility for your actions by going fast enough. In fact, doing this is a quick way to earn more charges and more severe charges, so don’t do it.
With that said, let’s take a closer look at the pursuit policy in Minnesota. The law enforcement pursuit policy was actually updated in 2019 following a couple of pursuits that put the public in danger. According to the updated policy, officers have been told only to pursue a suspect that:
- They believe has committed or is about to commit a “serious and violent felony or gross misdemeanor”; or
- Is driving “so fragrantly reckless that the driver would pose an imminent and life-threatening danger to the public if not apprehended.”
Moreover, police are advised not to pursue a suspect if the pursuit “poses an unreasonable risk to the officers, the public or passengers of the vehicle being pursued who may be unwilling participants.” Officers are told to continuously weigh the “necessity for apprehension” against the risk to themselves and the public.
As you can see, the policy is pretty open to interpretation, so you’re not going to be able to make an argument that police never should have been following you in the first place because the pursuit is against their policy. Their goal is to end an interaction without greatly increasing the risk to the general public, and if they feel like a pursuit is warranted, they’ll still come after you.
As we mentioned above, it’s never wise to let a small traffic infraction snowball into a felony crime because you fled the scene and put lives at risk while doing so. Pull over, deal with your actions and make life a lot easier on yourself and your lawyer. We’ll help you fight a fleeing police ticket or a felony arrest, but don’t stack the deck against yourself by making a rash decision. Police can legally pursue you, and they have other ways of identifying you, so even fleeing in the moment may not mean that you actually got away with it.
If you or someone you know needs assistance fighting a traffic charge or another criminal matter, reach out to Avery and the team at Appelman Law Firm today at (952) 224-2277.
