Study shows LAPD pursuits ending in crashes have resulted in more than 1,000 injuries over last 5 years

A recent study released Wednesday shows that Los Angeles Police Department pursuits ending in crashes over the last five years have resulted in a jarring number of civilian injuries. 

The Pursuit Injuries Report reveals that nearly 50% of the crashes stemming from pursuits resulted in civilian injury or death dating back to 2018, when data was first taken for the study. 

Over that five year span, LAPD officers engaged in 4,203 pursuits, with 1,032 collisions that resulted in injury or death. In those collisions: 

• 496 uninvolved people were injured,
• 9 uninvolved people were killed,
• 462 suspects were injured,
• 5 suspects were killed. 

The report also shows that 60 LAPD officers were injured during those chases, with no deaths reported. 

Nearly every year over the period saw the amount of pursuits that officers initiate rise, with numbers jumping every year but 2019 and 2022. 

In 2018, there were 665 pursuits, with 651 reported in 2019. 2020 saw a large jump to 869, followed by 990 in 2021 and 971 in 2022, according to the report.

Related: 2 killed in stolen vehicle crash in Panorama City

Deputy Chief Donald Graham, who works within LAPD's Transit Services Bureau, said that the top three reasons for officers to begin a pursuit were grand theft auto, driving under the influence and reckless driving. He also noted that vehicle theft incidents were on the rise in recent years as a cause for chases. 

Thus far in 2023, the report shows that there have been seven injuries and three deaths as a result of pursuit crashes.

During Tuesday's Police Commission meeting, President William Briggs discussed how these recent incidents have "raised the specter that pursuing suspects may not be the best avenue under these circumstances, unless of course the pursuit was someone who was wanted for ... bank robbery or some assault with a deadly weapon."

 "I guess what we're struggling with is where do we draw the line?" he said. 

Briggs also asked the department how officers can mitigate circumstances that lead to these dangerous crashes, to which Deputy Chief Graham noted that they are evaluating a number of possible devices, including a heavy-duty nylon rope that could be deployed to entwine a vehicle's axle and slow it down. On top of that, a launched GPS device that could track the fleeing suspect. 

Related: South L.A. crash: Police pursuit ends with driver killed, passengers hospitalized

Graham also said that they are looking into whether officers should declare their speeds, as well as that of the suspect, during the pursuit, so watch commanders can determine whether it poses to much of a risk to the public. 

Additional data in the report showed that during pursuits:

• officers' average speed as 46 miles per hour,
• average duration of pursuits lasted approximately 5.34 minutes,
• 72-percent of pursuits were less than five minutes,
• 76-percent of pursuits resulting in collision were less than five minutes,
• average distance covered was about 4.71 miles,
• 54-percent of pursuits resulting in collision were less than two miles

Craig Valenzuela of the LAPD's Traffic Group also disclosed that more than 80% of the pursuits ending in the "most catastrophic outcomes — severe injury or death — lasted less than three minutes."