Police receive training on pursuit operations

By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
GIRARD -- Supervisors from police departments across the Mahoning Valley got a lesson Thursday about proper ways to manage officers during a pursuit.
A one-day workshop sponsored by the Mahoning Valley Chiefs of Police Association focused on pursuit policy, training, supervision and accountability. The workshop also suggested guidelines for pursuit policies and controlling or ending a pursuit situation.
About three dozen officers attended the workshop.
Girard Police Chief Frank Bigowsky, the association's chairman, said the initial idea sometime ago was to create a universal pursuit policy for all local police departments. That idea was abandoned for practical reasons. He said the focus now is on enforcing existing pursuit policies.
"It would be impossible to get to agree on one policy. However, what we did realize is that it would be the supervisor on duty's responsibility to make sure the policy, whatever policy it is, is enforced," he said.
John Lindsey, workshop instructor, said the workshop was designed to cover all bases of a pursuit. He said supervisors were told what issues to address before a pursuit begins, information that should be gathered during a pursuit and what follow-up procedures to take with officers after a pursuit has ended.
Lindsey said, the training can be a critical weapon in law enforcement and should be taken advantage of whenever possible.
"This is critical. It is important for the supervisors to know how to supervise these officers," he said.
jgoodwin@vindy.com