MILWAUKEE — An overnight police pursuit left one person dead and nine others injured.
Milwaukee Police records show it’s the 11th person who has been killed in police chases within the past year. Department data shows that’s more than any year dating back to at least 2007.
Let’s go in-depth with a mother who thinks the policy needs to change — and where Mayor Cavalier Johnson stands on the issue.
"It's tough to be here, it really is,” said Dottie Hacket.
Whether it’s looking at family pictures or simply around her home, Hacket is constantly reminded of her son.
"Your life is just never the same and you don't know what you have, that old adage until it's gone,” Hacket said. “Boy, if that's not true."
Her son Marquis was heading home from dinner with his girlfriend in January when he was killed in a t-bone crash. Police say the driver, a 14-year-old boy, took off from officers after committing an armed robbery.
“{His girlfriend said} she remembers laughing and talking with him and the light turned green and when she pulled out into the intersection that's the last thing she remembers,” Hacket said.
Since that day, Hacket can’t stop wondering whether her son would still be alive if police called off the pursuit at high speeds.
“When you hear 11 people have been killed in one year in police pursuits and your son being one of them, what goes through your mind?” TMJ4 reporter Ben Jordan asked.
"Why? I don't know why,” she said. “It's a lot to lose not just for me but for the other ten families that lost their loved one, whatever circumstances. Live cannot be replaced."
For more than a decade, Milwaukee Police were only allowed to pursue when the driver or the car was believed to have been involved in a violent felony.
Six years ago, the city’s Fire and Police Commission loosened that policy by letting officers chase for reckless driving or mobile drug trafficking offenses.
Since then, pursuit deaths have skyrocketed. Milwaukee Police data shows 23 people have been killed in chases since the beginning of 2018. Just five deaths were recorded in pursuits in the previous five years.
"I think we have to get back to a point where we're holding individuals accountable,” said Mayor Cavalier Johnson.
Mayor Johnson says he supported the policy shift when it happened and he still does today.
“Does it concern you how many people are dying in these pursuits?” Jordan asked.
"Yeah, absolutely, and again, anytime someone is hurt by any means in Milwaukee, I get that information, I see that information and I'm concerned about that information, but I'm also concerned about the overall level of public safety in Milwaukee too,” Mayor Johnson replied.
Since the policy shift, the department has recorded more than a thousand pursuits in four out of the past five years. Data shows two-thirds of those pursuits were for reckless driving offenses.
“Do you think Milwaukee’s reckless driving problem has gotten better since police were allowed to pursue reckless drivers?” Jordan asked.
“I believe so,” Mayor Johnson replied. “Granted, that there's still a lot of work to do and as you drive across the city you see a lot of the work we've undertaken in my administration to address the issue of reckless driving.
Hacket says she disagrees with the mayor's position on police chases. She thinks the city’s policy is putting too many innocent people at risk.
"I'd like to see them reevaluate it,” she said. “Is it worth it? How many more people are going to die?"
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