Deadly force behind the wheel
By and – washingtonpost.com
The death on May 25 of George Floyd under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer has led to renewed public scrutiny of violent police tactics, including shootings, stun guns and chokeholds. But the PIT maneuver — also a potentially deadly use of force by police — has not received the same attention, despite its risk and widespread adoption by departments nationwide.
To study the tactic, The Post gathered statistics about PIT deaths and injuries since 2016 from news reports and records from the 100 largest city police departments and 49 state police agencies. Responses were received from 142 of them. Most departments do not break out deaths and injuries and were able to provide only policies on whether they used the maneuver. Many were unable to say how often chases ended in PITs.
One of the nine drivers killed this year was 34-year-old Justin Battenfield, a man whose family said he was mentally disabled and loved to drive the roads around his home in Van Buren, Ark.
Shortly after dawn on April 10, Battenfield, in a Dodge Ram, failed to stop at a traffic signal and then began to flee when a U.S. Forest Service officer attempted to stop him. Arkansas State Trooper Michael Shawn Ellis picked up the pursuit. Dashboard-camera video from the trooper’s car captured Battenfield as he swerved into the path of oncoming traffic. “Get this car stopped as soon as there’s an opening,” a supervisor told Ellis over the radio.
Ellis hit Battenfield’s truck at 109 mph, sending both vehicles into a tumble. Battenfield’s truck landed on its roof and acted as a ramp for the trooper’s car, launching it into the air, where it sliced through two street lamps.
Battenfield died, and Ellis suffered “non-life-threatening injuries,” according to state police.
“They should have backed off, and he would have come on home,” said Carol Henson, Battenfield’s mother. “Then they could have come up and got him.”
An Arkansas State Patrol spokesman said the department regretted the loss of life, but he emphasized that the PIT often hinges on the unpredictable behavior of the fleeing driver.
“The PIT . . . is supposed to be a controlled maneuver based on all of the factors at that second the law enforcement officer’s bumper makes contact with the vehicle. That’s what everything is based on. If the suspect changes the dynamics in any way, it could very easily turn bad, and no question about it,” spokesman Bill Sadler said….
Other departments across the state have adopted the PIT maneuver — in some cases leading to disastrous outcomes.
