The Minnesota State Patrol have released a dramatic video of officers pulling Kabaar Powell, 27, over for speeding and not wearing a seat belt on Interstate 94.
The interaction happened June 11 and left multiple kids injured.
The video starts out on on the highway, with the officer getting behind Powell and turning on his lights.
Powell immediately goes around the car in front of him and proceeds to exit the highway while still around the same speeds.
During the chase, that went down neighborhood streets at 80 mph, Powell blew through 22 stop signs.
At two minutes and thirty seconds, Powell veered off the road and into a park near Jenny Lind Elementary School, driving through the grass.
Three seconds later Powell crashed into a playground structure with kids on it.
While crashing into the playground, Powell ran over Kayden, 2, partially running over Lillie, 4, and injuring Konnor, 3. Konnors injuries were non-life threatening injuries.
Col. Matt Langer of the State Patrol stated that troopers acted within existing policy when they pursued Powell.
According to StarTribune:
“We commit to making the best decision possible with the balance to apprehend those who choose to flee with the risk of others,” Langer said.
As of Wednesday, the department has yet to change their policy for handling pursuits but stated this week that they plan on changing it.
During the press release, statistics were handed out on pursuits involving law enforcement.
In 2010, there were 687 pursuits across the state. Since then the rate have nearly tripled leaving 1867 pursuits in 2017.
Kyle Peltier told the court that his kids no longer want to go to the park, according to Fox News.
Powell has been charged with: two counts of fleeing an officer and causing great and substantial bodily harm, two counts of criminal vehicular operation, and one count of possessing a pistol without a permit. He has since plead guilty to two of the charges and was sentenced to 33 months.
The amount of deaths that stem from police pursuits across the nation has grown rapidly due to officers being allowed to make on the spot choices to chase suspects.
A study done by USA Today states that, including bystanders, 11,506 people have died during pursuits between 1979 and 2013.
If you break that down that is nearly an average of 329 people a year or one a day on average.
The study shows that suspects that were killed ranged from armed robbers all the way to a 10-year-old driving a pickup truck.
During the study USA Today also found out that, during the same time frame, more than 270,000 people were injured but survived police pursuits with an average of 7,400 people a year.
According to Fetto Law Group:
“In 2011, LAPD paid $24,000,000 for settlements and verdicts related to accidents that involved their police vehicles. In 2007, Chicago paid $7,000,000 for settlements and verdicts related to accidents involving their patrol vehicles”
The Bureau of Justice Statistics report that in 2012 both state police and highway patrol agencies conducted 17 vehicle pursuits per 100 officers employed. Sheriff’s offices reported 9 pursuits per 100 officers. local police departments came in with 8 pursuits per 100 officers.
With the amount of death, injuries, and the cost, why has law enforcement continued to handle pursuits the same way every year?
