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11 INVESTIGATES: Pennsylvania refuses to release police chase policy

Channel 11 frequently responds to reports of police chases that end in a crash.

On Thanksgiving Day in 2016, a chase in North Versailles ended when Demetrius Coleman crashed into another car in an intersection driving 100 miles per hour. The family of three in the other car, including a 2-year-old girl, was killed instantly.

Since that day, 11 investigates has worked to learn more about local police chase policies. But we learned they cannot legally be released.

“It’s another police-related policy and procedure that's a secret in Pennsylvania,” said Beth Pittinger of the Pittsburgh Citizens Police Review Board.

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State law prevents police departments from making their pursuit policies public. State Rep. Dom Costa spent nearly three decades working for Pittsburgh police, even serving as chief in 2006. He strongly supports keeping pursuit policies behind closed doors, saying he believes it protects officers.

“If you let those policies out, then you let the bad guys know what they can do and what they need to do to overcome that,” he said.

11 investigates decided to take a closer look at how many other departments across the country share that view. With a quick Google search, we found the pursuit policies for nearly every major city in the country, from big cities like New York and Chicago to cities that closely resemble Pittsburgh, like Cleveland and Charlotte.

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We spoke to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department spokesperson about the easy access to their chase policy.

“I don't think it's any big secret,” Rob Tufano said. “If you're a bad guy, and you're a bad guy for a career, they're probably just as familiar with our policies as we are with our policies.”

Tufano says it's critical for residents to understand why they would initiate a pursuit. That's why the policy is posted on their website.

"Very little of what it is that we do in law enforcement with our department needs to be done in secrecy," Tufano said. "That works for us."

It's a view Pittinger wishes more Pennsylvania lawmakers shared, especially when a pursuit can happen in an instant.

“The risk of that, compared to the value of people understanding and knowing what their police are permitted and expected to do, I think people win on that," Pittinger told 11 investigates.

Costa said while he does not support the release of pursuit policies, he is still not a fan of police chases. He hopes more surveillance cameras run by law enforcement will reduce the need for chases at all.

Right now, there are more than 200 cameras set up throughout Allegheny County run and monitored by the district attorney's office.