Sponsored by Pursuit Response
High-speed vehicle pursuits are complicated and pose significant risks to suspects, innocent victims and police. Decisions to pursue are made rapidly, and policy, pursuit situational based training and available GPS technology all play critical roles in literally slowing these dangerous events during critical high-risk situations. Law enforcement agencies are being asked to consider the increase of pursuits, how they can be perceived by communities, how pursuits place in officer misconduct profiles and the high cost of pursuit-related wrongful death cases to municipalities and departments.
Proven less-lethal alternatives can improve your strategy for redefining high-speed pursuits or avoiding them altogether. This webinar explores the risks inherent in pursuits, and how improved behavioral tactics and technology can empower law enforcement to leverage these new tactics to manage, monitor and end high-risk incidents quickly while keeping focus on community safety.
Upon completion of this webinar, you’ll be able to:
- Identify risks for law enforcement and how policy and legislative actions may require and support pursuit avoidance, management technologies, and contemporary interactive pursuit driver training.
- Understand how behavioral tactics and GPS technology can deescalate vehicle pursuits by providing critical time to slow events to foster safer decision outcomes.
- Recognize less-lethal technologies, including interactive simulation-based driver training that can be used to assure the best outcomes in high-risk vehicle and pursuit incidents.
MEET OUR SPEAKERS
Dr. Geoffrey P. Alpert, Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice
Dr. Geoffrey P. Alpert is a Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of South Carolina and has an appointment at Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia. He has taught at the FBI National Academy, the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center and The Senior Management Institute for Police. He is currently a Federal Monitor for the New Orleans Police Department and on the compliance team for the Portland, Oregon Police Bureau. He has testified to Congress, several state legislatures, and the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, and is a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police Research Advisory Committee and the PERF Research Advisory Board. For the past forty years, his research interests have focused on police use of force, pursuit driving and the linkages between researchers and practitioners.
Jonathan Farris, Founder and Chief Advocate
Jonathan Farris is the founder and Chief Advocate of Pursuit For Change (PFC), a Wisconsin-based police pursuit advocacy. Jon’s son Paul was killed in 2007. Paul was 23 and an innocent victim caught up in a misdemeanor traffic violation police pursuit. Since that day, Jon has been an advocate for fewer and safer pursuits. Jon is the retired Chairman of PursuitSAFETY, a national non-profit working with innocent victims of pursuits. Jon conducts police department training sessions, often for recruit classes, focusing on the consequences of pursuits. Jon is a regular contributor for news media across the United States.
When not working on Pursuit for Change activities, Jon is President of InsuranceRescue Services, LLC, a contract and consulting firm.
OUR MODERATOR
Ken Wallentine, Chief of Police
Chief Ken Wallentine is the Chief of Police for the City of West Jordan. He is the President of the Utah Chiefs of Police Association and the Chair of the Salt Lake County Officer-Involved Critical Incident Investigation Board.
Chief Wallentine consults on use of force issues nationally and has served as an expert witness in numerous state and federal courts. A law enforcement officer since 1982, he has also been a practicing public attorney. As Senior Legal Advisor for Lexipol, he helped craft police operational policies for thousands of agencies in the United States.
In 2017, Chief Wallentine completed post-graduate studies to become one of a very select few to achieve certification as an Advanced Force Science Analyst®. Chief Wallentine is the editor of Xiphos, a national monthly newsletter updating attorneys and officers on criminal procedure and liability developments, now in its 23rd year. His deskbook on criminal procedure, Street Legal: A Guide for Police, Prosecutors & Defenders, 2nd Edition, was published by the American Bar Association Publishing Company and is widely used in law schools and criminal justice programs. His most recent book, Preparing for an Active Shooter Threat, published by Blue360 Publishing in 2020.