The NYPD says it is going on the offensive as it targets alleged dangerous criminals that try to run from police, allowing more officers to chase after suspects in department vehicles.
There were a pair of police pursuits over the weekend, including one in Washington Heights on Sunday that ended with a vehicle flipped over — evidence that pursuits can be dangerous, especially in crowded parts of the city. But the department said chases are a valuable tool to catch suspected criminals, under the right conditions.
"We are not going to allow this to happen anymore. Our training, our expertise, we are pretty good at it and we are going to continue stopping cars and bikes that are breaking the law in the city," said NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell in an exclusive interview with NBC New York.
Get Tri-state area news and weather forecasts to your inbox. Sign up for NBC New York newsletters.
Chell said that the same Washington Heights chase that ended in the crash also led to the arrest of a man on parole who allegedly had a gun. In another chase, a driver in the Bronx smashed into several cars — including a police cruiser — and took out scaffolding before being arrested.
"We are not letting you walk away. We will be compassionate, we will be kind, we will give people breaks. But breaking the law, guns, shootings, gang members, robberies with these cars and bikes — we are not having it anymore. It’s over," said Chell.
The NYPD is also utilizing new tools to track down alleged criminals, like aviation technology.
"So some of our pursuits by definition are pursuits but it’s aviation pursuing, and we are laying back and it allows us to mitigate any accidents to the community," Chell told News 4. "Keeps our cops safe, it gets the job done. And it’s showing the difference."
Chell said that safety remains paramount, and that chases can be called off at any time.
"The supervisor has to take a lot of things in consideration: Time of day, location, weather, type of crime. We have extensive training on this through the police academy and through cops that are currently working and they get refreshers," he said.
A pursuit and arrest of a man on a scooter in the Bronx Monday morning led to police finding a gun. Chief Chell believes those kinds of arrests will lead to driving crime down.
"This person is on a bike with a gun. What do you think he’s going to do? He’s going to probably rob someone. Possibly shoot someone. And these efforts are why crime is down," said Chell, noting that shootings are down 30% in August thus far.
It comes as the frequency of NYPD vehicle chases has skyrocketed this year, according to a report. There were more than 300 instances of police giving chase in the first three months of 2023, an analysis of 911 data by The City found. Compare that to 214 total chases for all of 2022.
The chase also corresponds to when Chell took over as chief of patrol in Dec. 2022, The City reported. Earlier in August, an NYPD oversight board called for stiffer penalties for dangerous police pursuits. The Commission to Combat Police Corruption said in its report that pursuits that led to harm should be viewed equally as cases of unjustified use of force.
The NYPD has said that training is key when it comes to chases, as their community response team trains quarterly on pursuits.
