BY JANE PRENDERGAST
The Cincinnati Enquirer

In Cincinnati on Sunday night, Police Officer Gregory Berting heard a radio call about a speeding car being chased by police. He jumped into the pursuit, too.

In contrast, at least three Northern Kentucky police departments opted not to get involved when the speeding blue Grand Am blew through their jurisdictions.

The contrast points out the differences in how police departments handle fleeing drivers. Officer Berting's involvement ended when his cruiser hit a car that was not involved in the chase. Its driver was killed and two passengers were injured.

In 1994, the most recent year for which data is available, 388 people were killed during pursuits, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Of the 388, three were police officers and 283 were those being chased. The remaining 102 were occupants of unrelated vehicles or pedestrians.

The agency acknowledges the numbers are likely understated because of a lack of uniform reporting by all police departments. Many departments, in fact, do not keep chase statistics.

The Cincinnati Police Division's policy on pursuits begins with the tenet that officers must weigh the seriousness of the situation against the hazards the pursuit might pose to citizens. Officers must terminate any pursuit, the policy says, when the risk to their safety or others outweighs the consequences left by the suspect's escape.

Cincinnati officers are allowed to pursue vehicles for three reasons - if they see a known or suspected felon; if they see a traffic or misdemeanor violation committed; or if told to do so by dispatch or a supervisor.

The supervisor is immediately notified and becomes director of the pursuit. Chases are supposed to end as soon as danger outweighs the necessity for immediate apprehension or when the suspect's identity has been established so they can be apprehended later.

A study on police pursuits was released last month by the National Institute of Justice in Washington, D.C., and University of South Carolina professor Geoffrey Alpert, who has studied pursuits nationally for more than a decade. The newest research in Florida, Nebraska and South Carolina studied 1,200 pursuits and interviewed 150 people jailed after pursuits. It concluded that many departments' policies were formulated in the 1970s and out of date.

Many pursuits were unnecessary, the study added.

The pursuit policy in Newport is among the Tristate's strictest. The city's layout is congested, with stop lights or signs at almost every intersection - that creates a terrible environment for any car to speed, Chief Tom Fromme said.

He tightened the department's pursuit policy after a 1993 chase into Covington that ended with a Newport officer hitting and killing a pedestrian.

"We have virtually a no-pursuit policy," the chief said. "It's almost limited to life-threatening situations. We just don't think it's usually worth it."

Other departments, including Covington and Kenton County, have policies that prohibit any more than two cruisers to be in a pursuit at any time. That rule came into play in Kenton County during the pursuit of Paul Wayne Lovelaceon Sunday. The chase went through the county department's jurisdiction, but officers did not get involved because they knew from radio traffic that other units already were chasing the man, Capt. Ed Butler said.

The same was true Sunday for Newport and Covington units. Newport Officer Ron Gross followed the car for several blocks after it ran through a red light and nearly hit him at a speed he estimated was more than 80 mph. But he followed policy in deciding not to join the chase.

Covington officers were dispatched to exits off Interstate 75 when they learned the chase was occurring on the highway, but they were instructed not to do anything unless the car got off the expressway. It was shortly after that when the car continued into Cincinnati and the officer chasing it collided with the teen-agers' car.

It may be difficult to set specific policy outlawing pursuits. "That's fine, if that's what the public wants, no pursuits," said Assistant Covington Police Chief Bill Dorsey. "But then the next thing that comes up is somebody says, 'Hey, that was my mother's murderer and you didn't chase him.' Then you've got another problem."

COP IN CRASH RAN STOP SIGN
TYPICAL DAY, TRAGIC NIGHT

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HIGH-SPEED POICE CHASE FATAL June 16, 1997