Alabama Supreme Court Justice Greg Cook said a written policy issued by the Birmingham Police Department barring officers from pursuing fleeing drivers is "badly misguided."
Cook said in a ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court in a lawsuit regarding a hit-and-run collision by a truck driver in 2020 who hit a vehicle containing a family of four. One child died from the collision. The other three were injured but survived. The parents of the deceased child later sued two Birmingham police officers and the city of Birmingham in Jefferson County Circuit Court.
The city of Birmingham has claimed it is immune from the lawsuit and asked the Supreme Court to intervene in the case. The Alabama Supreme Court denied the request on Friday, with only Justices Will Sellers and Brady Mendheim dissenting.
Cook said in his opinion, "The Birmingham Police Department ("the BPD") has issued a written policy that bars its police officers from pursuing traffic offenders, including drivers fleeing from the police. Specifically, the relevant portions of the policy state that "[o]fficers will not initiate or participate in a vehicle pursuit" when "[t]he decision to pursue is based only on a traffic violation or misdemeanor evading (including failure to yield or reckless driving in response to an enforcement action taken by Department personnel)." This policy appears to be absolute, thus barring pursuit of such fleeing drivers whether it is night or day, dry or wet, crowded or deserted, or on the interstate or side streets."
"In my opinion, this absolute policy of not pursuing fleeing drivers is badly misguided, and I am deeply concerned with the degree to which it limits BPD police officers' abilities to apprehend lawbreakers and protect public safety," Cook said in his opinion," Cook said.
Cook continued, "Despite my extraordinary concerns with this policy, our Court's constitutional role is limited in this case. We have no authority to rewrite this policy. Any changes to this policy lie with the City of Birmingham and the BPD. And, any changes to state law regarding police-pursuit policies (or immunity law) lie with our Legislature. At this stage, our Court's only role is to apply the procedural limitations of mandamus review to the invocation of the well-settled doctrine of peace-officer immunity."
Decision - Distributed (4) by Caleb Taylor on Scribd
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