Milwaukee Officials Eye Limits on Police Pursuits for Reckless Driving
What to know
- Milwaukee’s Fire and Police Commission is considering a proposal that would sharply limit police pursuits for reckless driving and require officers to end chases when immediate danger develops.
- The proposal follows a deadly 2025, when nine people were killed in six pursuit‑related crashes.
- The possible changes go further than the police department's updated pursuit policy put in place last month, which already removed speed as a standalone justification for a chase.
Milwaukee’s Fire and Police Commission will review another round of pursuit restrictions on Thursday, marking a shift from the policy changes the police department adopted just weeks ago.
The renewed proposal focuses heavily on limiting pursuits for reckless driving, according to WITI‑TV. Under the draft plan, officers would be instructed to stop chasing a reckless driver after the initial traffic stop and immediately terminate any pursuit that creates direct danger.
Commissioners are calling for the changes after a deadly year on Milwaukee streets, where six pursuit‑related crashes in 2025 left nine people dead, according to the news outlet.
The update differs from the restrictions the department rolled out in February, which narrowed the circumstances in which police can chase reckless drivers. Those rules no longer allow speed alone to justify a pursuit.
Under the current policy, officers must identify at least one additional factor before continuing a chase. Examples include a collision with another vehicle, forcing other drivers into evasive maneuvers or failing to slow at a controlled intersection.