The events of August 30th played out like a scenario in the GTA video game. The high-speed car chase ended with a crash in Central Park. While we are thankful there were no injuries, it would seem a review of the event, tactics, and strategy would warrant a second look.
The Mirror inquired about whether the Town Council would be conducting an after-action review, and we were told no. Something like that may never happen again, but if it did, would we want to see it play out like it did the last time?
We know, many are going to take this as an attack against the police, but this is not the case.
Back-slapping and a bunch of ‘Attaboys’ are great, but when it comes to the safety of the public and our officers, isn’t a review warranted? Let’s look.
The Mirror did contact local authorities to be sure we got the story straight, and here it is.
Police Search Update 8/30/2023 8:45am – Following an extensive search last evening, CCPD believes the suspect has now fled the area. Residents may resume normal activity...so, after running from Eastville Police (the pursuit started in Eastville) and heading into Cape Charles, the Cape Charles Police saw the vehicle and chased them. A high-speed chase ensued and went down Mason Ave, Bay Ave. The pursued vehicle then turned into the park and crashed into a tree. The driver exited the car and fled on foot. He managed to elude Cape Charles PD, Northampton County Sheriff’s Deputies, a Deputy from Accomack Sheriff’s Office, Virginia State Police, the Eastville Police Department, and a K-9 dog officer. The suspect then stole a car and escaped.
We are all proud and relieved that the CCPD was able to intervene and stop the subject, and grateful that the officer, pedestrians, and bystanders were not injured. Our police did a great job, however, we shouldn’t just thank our lucky stars and move on–the event and how it was handled leaves us with some concern.
Despite the general and outward success, Cape Charles is extremely lucky that there were no injuries or even fatalities. The Mirror has inquired but we still have not been told how fast the cars were traveling when they entered the Historic District. If someone had been killed due to the car chase, the family would be suing the Town for a huge sum (not the criminal). The weather, time of year, and time of day helped by providing sparser levels of pedestrian traffic. If this were a Saturday, with a concert going on in the park, well, you get it. Add golf carts to the mix and the scenario deepens.
Was the chase through town necessary?
It’s essential for all law enforcement agencies, not just our local police, to balance the need for apprehending suspects with the safety of officers and the public. Each situation may require a different approach, and the decision to engage in a high-speed pursuit should be made carefully and with consideration of the potential risks involved.
If the vehicle is already traveling at a high rate of speed, turning on the blue lights and giving chase will just escalate an already dangerous situation.
Nationally, the U.S. Department of Transportation estimates that of all high-speed police chases that occur each year, between 6,000 and 8,000 end in collisions. Approximately 500 people are killed in these crashes and more than 5,000 suffer minor or serious injuries.
Alternative Tactics and Strategy
- Let him go. Follow as safely as you can, but don’t escalate the situation. If he gets away, he’ll turn up eventually, they always do, and he did–U.S. marshals captured Jafeir A. Bertrand in Camden, New Jersey. Jafeir will face extradition back to Virginia, and as of right now 9 felony charges, 1 misdemeanor, and 6 traffic infractions with more charges pending. He is still presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
- In this instance, the suspect drove into Cape Charles. That road dead-ends at the Chesapeake Bay, and by car, there are only two ways out. Unless you are a good swimmer, escaping by foot is not a great option. You have the Cape Charles PD, Northampton County Sheriff’s Deputies, a Deputy from Accomack Sheriff’s Office, Virginia State Police, the Eastville Police Department, and a K-9 dog, why not just let the guy go and use roadblocks to secure the exit routes? Securing the Hump and points along Stone Road will also shut down foot exits (the old fire road behind the baseball field is the only legit escape route). Once you have secured the exits, call Norfolk Police and request assistance from their police search helicopter– they are more than willing to help. With the air search in place, then begin a careful dragnet operation. The chopper, loud and with a giant light beam is intimidating, and will more than likely flush the perpetrator–it just screams manhunt. All exits remain secured until you capture the suspect. If you have them, use spike strips to puncture the tires of a fleeing vehicle, gradually reducing its speed until it comes to a stop.
Tedious, slow, and expensive, however, this operation minimizes the risk of injury or death to innocent bystanders, the police, and the subject.
You can call this Monday morning quarterbacking, but it’s really important to review any process–since the 1980s, many, such as this writer have come out against high-speed cop chases like this–some of us have friends and family that have been affected by them.
In this instance, the police engaged in a dangerous high-speed chase that ended in Central Park with a car crashing into a tree. The suspect flees on foot, while police units descend on the town. They then engage in an ally-by-ally search and employ a couple of drones. While the police are tied up in alleyways, the suspect quietly steals another car and drives off–he initially escapes and has to be rounded up in New Jersey.
I don’t blame the local police for this–they did exactly what every other police department in the country would have done. Whether Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Richmond, Los Angeles, or Chicago, police react to fleeing suspects the same way. When is this tactic going to be reevaluated?
Unless you are sure he is wanted for murder, he is an escaped prisoner, has brandished a weapon, actually shot someone, or just robbed a bank, let them go. Why risk it? If you still really, really want to catch them, use patience–they eventually show up somewhere.
It is important to develop strict pursuit policies that limit high-speed chases to situations involving violent felonies, ensuring that pursuits are only initiated when the potential danger justifies the risk. There will always be times when a pursuit is necessary–be judicious in how you deploy it.
We are super proud and grateful for the work of our Cape Charles police. Our local cops, including Northampton Sheriffs and our Eastville brethren, always perform a difficult job most professionally. The event was scary, and it ended well, but it also provided a great opportunity to go back and review what went down. What was good, and what could be improved upon–what could have been done differently? We’re sure the CCPD has reviewed the events, but an actual After-Action Review needs to be conducted by a third party. Local residents and the cops themselves deserve this.
Growth, process improvement, and refinement are the keys to the future success of any organization.
About the Author
Until you wear our uniform for one day, you don’t know what we deal with JERK!
Editor’s Note: Oh Anthony, we knew people would take this the wrong way. The article is totally on the Blue’s side. There is always another way.
Well, I worn the uniform for over 28 1/2 years.
I been in pursuits in Arlington Fairfax, Stafford, Spotsylvania, Hampton, NewPort News and just about all places in between.
May I speak? Doing over 130 mph in a pursuit, is not fun! It’s scary as hell! You are in a roller-coaster ride with death. Your emotions run wild between doing your job and public safety.
I was also a criminal justice instructor. And I would tell my cadets. It’s always “Due regard for public safety!”
I was not going to comment and remain silent. Because I don’t know all the facts, but…
My hat is off to the officer. You put your life on the line for Cape Charles, its citizens and the people that visit. I can only believe that you wanted to end the pursuit before anyone got hurt.
But it is by the grace of God that no innocent person was harmed.
Anthony if you stay in law enforcement. You will talk and pray to God alot. I think all law enforcement officers do. I did and I even cried.
I have loss two shift partners and two other friends of mine from my academy days, in the line of duty. It’s tough being a police officer, even tougher today.
This article, to me, just points out other options. As a police officer, we are taught that we always catch the bad guy. It drilled into us. But what they don’t teach us is how to deal with the death of an innocent person or a fellow officer. Was it because we did something wrong or was it by the actions of the criminal?Sometimes you just have to back down and pray that the person being pursued doesn’t harm anyone. As an officer, you can only do so much. Please understand that. I rather loose the person being pursued than have any harm come to my officers or citizens.
I personally believe that there was no time to set up pike strips or even set up road blocks. These incidents unfold rapidly and go in many direction. And I don’t believe there was any way to warn the citizens as the pursuit was taking place. The public warning, that was sent out about a wanted person on the loose was great.
Cape Charles Police force is small and can only do so much. It is up to Chief Pruitt on what can be done to insure the safety of the public and his officers.
In law enforcement after incident like this, it is crucial to critique what had happened and how can it be handled more effectively the next time.
It’s not to criticize the actions of the officer. It is to give him more information/ options for the next incident. It’s more tools for your career in law enforcement tool box.
Anybody can be a Monday night quarterback. But not anybody can be a police officer.
A police officer only has seconds to reaction to a life or death situation.
Anthony and the other police officers out there be safe and Godspeed.
Editor’s Note: Thanks for the wonderful comment. The Mirror did not want to publish this article, but, since the Town was not going to review the incident, we felt it deserved a second look. We tried to make it as fair as possible, and tried to make it clear it was not an indictment against the officers. For the last 30 or 40 years, in my career, everything is reviewed after the fact. During the hotwash, you try to expose what worked in the process, and what could be better. Being from a family of police officers, some that have been seriousluy injured, we are fully aware of risks that officers face every day. That is the real impetus for the article.
Let it be known that the pursuit was initiated by Eastville PD, NOT the Sheriff’s Office.
Let’s not get out facts confused while Monday-Morning -Quarterbacking the facts.
Editor’s Note: Thanks for the update.
This is a VERY important clarification! The Eastville cops exist ONLY to write traffic tickets to, mostly, out-of-state motorist in the name of “public safety.”They write tickets to self-fund themselves, their nice SUV’s and their other police equipment. To this citizen, it’s a racquet and a self-serving farce.
I’m not defending the suspect in this case, he was (allegedly) doing 74 mph in a 55, but that offense…that threat to public safety…to me, certainly didn’t warrant the lead-on threats to public safety that the pursuit created. But if you know the Eastville cops, you know they would never back down from something like this, it’s the highlight of their(week/month/year).
Also, while we are at it. Letting the suspect go would not have yielded a future arrest. He was driving a stolen car, and was not identifiable by running the car’s plates as it would have come back to an innocent person. You do have the right to criticize and review, but that being said, all Jurisdictions operated well-within their standard operating procedures, and their legal boundaries per Virginia Code. Risks were weighed, and nobody was injured.
The actions of the Officers while in the performance of their duties, thank God, are not governed nor policed by the citizens of this community. Citizens may have a gripe, concern, or what seems to that individual citizen as a “better way to do things,” but in the end it doesn’t really matter.
We collectively think you write well, but occasionally you publish an article that’s off-center or written in haste, and we allow you to do that. We still read the Mirror regardless of that fact.
Stay in your lane, and don’t propagate giving a voice to those who really don’t rate one.
Editor’s Note: Andrew, thanks for the comment, and honestly, the Mirror agrees the you. I did not want to publish it, and actually sat on it for week. If the town was going to review the event, in Executive Session, I would have never written this. However, I still believe a 2nd look is required, and it sucks that the Mirror felt the need to do it. In my career, AARs are required. Nobody likes the hotwash, but it’s important. The Mirror did not want to get out of its lane and stick its nose where it did not belong, but in the end, decided we had to. Believe me, I expect to get a ton of grief for it, and probably deserve it. Thanks again for your comments.
I am for the blue, but that “higher then thou attitude” is a big problem today. Once again just because you have a badge on doesn’t automatically make you right. The people do matter, respect must go both ways,remember they pay your salaries or has “policing for profit” replaced “serve and protect”. We can do better.
Securing a helicopter or other specialized equipment is not as easy as a request. I would certainly believe a request for a helicopter for a driving charge would be denied! All in all, the town and PD should have a pursuit policy in place.
In the future, there needs to be better coordination once the pursuit is initiated. I saw the pursuit in May and it seemed law enforcement, intentional or not, forces the driver on to Courthouse Rd and narrowed the escape options. I will say the search seemed very through and well coordinated. The stories of support and cooperation LE received was amazing. Maybe the county can bring the agencies together for a planning meeting, since chases seem to happening more.
Just a few observations.
(Note: I am from a family of law enforcement officers, back to the early 1900’s, and “back the blue” but believe “the blue” can always do better.)
1) After a high speed chase that risked endangering innocent lives, it would seem more than reasonable to have an objective review of the actions taken by the local police done by an outside law enforcement agency so that if it happens again they can be better prepared.
2) There aren’t that many ways to leave Cape Charles. If this suspect warranted a high speed chase into a densely populated Cape Charles why didn’t the situation warrant road blocks out of the town?
3) It was reported there were 3 passengers in the vehicle besides the driver and that they were released shortly after the crash.(?) It would seem they, maybe?, should have been kept in custody longer.(?)