Fort Worth Police Department reveals portions of policy on chasing suspects
The Fort Worth Police Department made "significant portions" of its policy on chases public Monday morning.
In a news release, the department said it made the decision after ongoing discussions and "in the spirit of honoring the commitment to transparency."
"In taking stock of our pursuit policy, it has become apparent that there are parts of our policy that are of a general nature that could safely be made public without compromising our strategies, tactics, or officer safety in any way," Chief Neil Noakes said in an emailed statement to the CBS News Texas I-Team.
Last month, the city of Fort Worth filed a lawsuit to block public records requests made by CBS News Texas and other news organizations for the pursuit policy. The I-Team requested it back in July after several high-profile chases, including one that resulted in the death of an innocent bystander.
The police department told the CBS News Texas I-Team that it intends to continue with the lawsuit in order to keep other parts of the policy private.
Fort Worth police have argued that releasing the policy would jeopardize the safety of officers and the public. Other North Texas police departments, including Dallas, have had their pursuit policies online.
"We obviously wish that no one would make the decision to evade the police in the first place, but we know some criminals will do just that. We must, therefore, have an effective pursuit policy for our officers, and that includes specific tactics we don't want criminals to know. This release balances the need for transparency as well as my duty to protect our residents and my officers, and I take that duty very seriously. They deserve no less," Noakes said in his statement.
The policy starts on page 106 of this document.
This is a developing story and will be updated throughout the day.
