BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — In Minnesota, there's a policy in place that police departments have to follow when it comes to high-speed chases.
But there's also some wiggle room and some agencies recently started making changes.
In Minneapolis, for example, police stopped pursuing drivers over minor offenses in 2019. And now Bloomington is launching a new tool to end pursuits faster and more safely.
Its officers are being trained on the use and deployment of the MobileSpike - a device that's more commonly used on the West Coast.
"We wanted to get something and deploy something out there that's going to allow us to end these pursuits quickly," said Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges. "Because the longer a pursuit goes on, the greater likelihood either the officer or an innocent person is going to get hurt."
The technology will be on three marked patrol squads. The total cost of the systems was about $20,000. It's the first time this tool is being used in the five-state area and, in some cases, will take the place of throwing out stop-sticks.
"Those are inherently dangerous for police officers to throw because a lot of times they'll throw them and they'll get hit," said Chief Hodges.
Lino Lakes police officer Shawn Silvera died 18 years ago after being struck by a suspect's car when he deployed stop-sticks on I-35W.
"Success for us is when pursuits drop, but also the apprehension of those who decide to flee," said Chief Hodges, who says there was a spike in chases in Bloomington.
He says there were 108 in 2021 and 115 in 2022. This year, they are on pace to reach 84.
Chief Hodges said while the department's pursuit policy hasn't changed, his officers don't pursue for minor offenses and it limits pit maneuvers at high speeds to avoid vehicles flipping over.
"We don’t like to pit people at those types of speeds; whereas, this MobileSpike, you can deploy that at higher speeds," said Chief Hodges.
It works on any size tire - including on semi-trucks.
Friday is the last day the department will train on how to properly use the MobileSpike before it will be launched in the community by the weekend.
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