Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Thursday the city will make an announcement "shortly" about a new police pursuit policy that would include criteria to determine whether or not a chase should be terminated.
Lightfoot made the comments at a news conference Thursday, one day after a homicide suspect led police on a chase that resulted in a squad car crash that killed one woman and injured five others.
When asked Thursday about the specifics of the incident, the mayor said she didn't have all the facts to determine why the pursuit wasn't terminated.
"But let me say this. I've been very concerned about police pursuits...since I became mayor. The frequency of them, that they caused death, caused injury, property damage, the whole works," she said.
Last year, Lightfoot said, she tasked the chief risk officer for the city of Chicago to review the existing pursuit policy and recommend any changes. The mayor said the city will make announcement about the new policy and training plan "shortly," but didn't provide a timeline.
"Police pursuits are obviously one of the most deadly and dangerous exercises that police officers are engaged in. And we want to make sure that if that is necessary, it's done in very limited circumstances," she said.
Chases would only be done under full direction of supervisors and would only involved marked vehicles with lights and sirens, the mayor stated.
Local
"We've had some mistakes that have been made in the past," she said.
