ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — NAACP chapters of St. Louis and St. Louis County are stepping up their call for police departments to revise their police chase policies. Their initial effort was made back in May after a family of five was killed in a crash that happened during a police chase.
NAACP officials said they requested involvement from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for assistance to review and modify police chase policies in St. Louis city and county. Wednesday’s news conference updated this process.
"It is alarming to see how many lives are lost, especially innocent bystanders, during car chases," St. Louis County NAACP President John Bowman said.
The NAACP's news conference called on police in St. Louis and St. Louis County to change their pursuit tactics. They said the only technology both departments are using as a way to slow down fleeing cars right now are spike strips. Both chapter presidents want more.
"Special units don't have lights or anything that triggers the camera, so we don't know what happens in that case," St. Louis City NAACP President Adolphus Pruitt said.
Both presidents also want departments to incorporate new technology, including something called a "digital siren."
"When the police chase begins, the police can trigger a digital siren which can notify everybody with a cell phone within a certain amount close to this area that a chase is taking place," Pruitt said.
In May, five relatives of the Simmons family were killed in a crash after a police chase. Relative Aaron Piggee said he wants to see those changes too.
"I'd like to see some change," he said, "if there's a way we can adjust how we do things to try to catch someone earlier before it does end in a tragedy."
Piggee said he knows new technology won't bring back his loved ones, but he's hopeful changes will mean this won't happen again.
"The most important thing is prayer," he said. "We're a praying family and a family that prays together stays together, and that's all we're doing day by day and just praying."
After their initial request, NAACP officials said they have conducted interviews and reviews of St. Louis and St. Louis County police chase policies and shared their initial findings with the DOJ.
In a statement, NAACP officials said they are committed to a transparent process of keeping the public informed as much as possible, and Wednesday’s news conference is an opportunity to update that process and answer questions.
"People in stolen cars run from police and when they do that, they don't care about who's in their way," Pruitt said in May. "It's no different than being hit by a stray bullet. It's just a bigger piece of metal.”
John Hayden, then-St. Louis Police chief, discussed the city’s police chase policy at a board of alderman public safety meeting.
“It’s very specific and it’s one of the more conservative ones across the country. We preach the policy to officers and they have to read it once a month, to make sure everybody is on the same page. At the same time, we want to make sure people are not only reading the policy but following the policy,” Hayden said.
5 On Your Side reached out to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the St. Louis Count Police Department for a statement regarding an updated police chase policy.
The St. Louis County Police Chief released a statement saying, "I appreciated the opportunity to meet with the NAACP recently and discuss the dangers associated with police pursuits and individuals who choose to flee from the police. Mr. Bowman and Mr. Pruitt and I exchanged ideas that include ways to possibly alert the public to police pursuits that are now being researched. We are open to any new technology that may assist us in keeping our communities safe from criminals who choose to disobey the law.”
St. Louis City Police said they will review their policy, as they routinely do, reiterating, "no pursuit occurred during that incident."