Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Over the span of nearly 24 hours, Western New York saw a pair of high-speed vehicle incidents that turned deadly.
Sunday night saw a 14-year-old boy taking off on Elmwood Avenue at a high rate of speed before crashing into two vehicles. That teenager was transported to Erie County Medical Center, where he was later declared deceased.
Then on Monday night, another high-speed incident that started in the Town of Hamburg ended up later concluding in the City of North Tonawanda, but not before the 31-year-old driver of that vehicle struck and killed a pedestrian in the City of Tonawanda.
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According to Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia, he does not consider the incident on Sunday in North Buffalo a pursuit, rather the police vehicle attempting to make a traffic stop and attempting to stop an aggressive driver. He adds the police vehicle was not in a position to be on top of that vehicle.
"Our police officers are charged with enforcing the laws. They're in charge of enforcing whether it be vehicle and traffic laws, or whether it be criminal laws. When it's going to come to a vehicle and traffic stop, whether it be for a vehicle and traffic violation or for a crime, you have to, at least, be able to get yourself into a position to attempt to stop that vehicle, to detain that vehicle," said Gramaglia during a Tuesday press briefing. "There is a point there, and I kind of like to refer to it as the gray area, of, 'Is this car refusing to pull over? Does this car even know that I'm behind them?' And look, I was in a police car for a long time and I stopped plenty of vehicles. And there are plenty of times where someone, even with all the lights going, didn't stop right away. And then eventually they do stop, and the first thing they say is, 'I didn't even see you behind me.' So there has to be a little bit of a time there, and that's why I kind of call it that gray area of whether or not that vehicle is willfully refusing to pull over, didn't see you and then pull over. What we have uncovered so far in this investigation is that the police car was not even, I'll say, on top of the vehicle, or in a position to what we would consider like that pulling over position where they're there."
Former Buffalo Police Cpt. Jeff Rinaldo, now with Vista Security Group, says for the most part, the City of Buffalo has a no pursuit policy. However, one has to look at that in terms of the totality of the circumstances.
"From what's been reported in this particular case, officers observed a vehicle at a high rate of speed driving down Elmwood Avenue. Those officers do have a duty, in the interest of public safety, to attempt to stop that car," said Rinaldo in an interview with WBEN.
"Now, what police administrators generally look at, in terms of these cases, is the duration of that attempt. ... Based on what we're hearing, it sounds like this was not really a pursuit, but more of officers attempting to catch up to this vehicle, and then coming upon it and finding that a crash had occurred."
Rinaldo says different agencies have different pursuit policies, but the majority of them do require officers to use some level of due diligence, in terms of making sure the chase does not become a threat to the public.
One of those agencies that does have their own comprehensive policy officers follow when pursuing a vehicle is the Cheektowaga Police Department.
"What we base our decision on, whether or not to chase a car, is always going to depend on a lot of different circumstances. Mainly, the easiest way to say it is the danger to the public. Does continuing to chase create an increased risk of danger to the public that outweighs our duty to apprehend?" said Cpt. Jeffrey Schmidt with WBEN.
Both Schmidt and Rinaldo say there are a number of different factors that goes into a police pursuit, and whether or not the timing or setting is right to pursue any individual and stop that vehicle.
"Time of day, traffic conditions - Are we heading into rush hour, are there school buses on the road? What are the weather conditions? Is it slippery, is it raining, is it foggy? Is it difficult to see the vehicle? And what is the severity of the crime or the infraction for which the person is being chased?" Rinaldo detailed. "Different departments have different levels for that, but the goal of any of these policies is to ensure that the chase doesn't become reckless, and ensures the safety of the officers, the suspect, as well as the public."
Cpt. Schmidt says it is the department's supervision, especially the officers who may be on the road at the time, to take into effect the different factors of a potential chase.
"The threat to public and personal safety, alternative actions such as if you know who the person is you're chasing, filing for a warrant later, getting them at a different time, the seriousness of the crime - there's a big difference between chasing someone because they ran a stop sign, or chasing someone because they harmed another person," Schmidt noted. "What are the road conditions like? Is it night time? Is it daytime? Is there ice on the road? The traffic conditions, are there children walking to school? All of these things go into factor every single time we make the decision to pursue or to not pursue a vehicle."
Cpt. Schmidt adds the decision to not pursue a vehicle does not mean that the department is not going to still make an apprehension.
"It means we're going to use some different tools and tactics in order to follow this individual, follow up with them at a later time. And we do different things, like following at a safe speed, we can do things like filing for warrants if we already know who the offender is," Schmidt added.
Rinaldo says police departments are often monitoring the elements of a potential vehicle pursuit so not to put the public in danger during a chaotic situation.
"They're monitoring speeds or monitoring directions of travel. They're monitoring the locations where that's occurring, and making decisions at that point as to whether or not that pursuit should continue," he said.
If a vehicle pursuit is called off, there are other ways law enforcement officials can track the whereabouts of a certain vehicle or individual.
"Around the country, there's a number of different things being utilized. I know some agencies utilize drone technology. There are companies out there that sell devices that can be fired from the bumper of the pursuing police car that shoots a sticky projectile, in essence, a GPS tracker onto the suspects vehicle. All of those things, a helicopter, are utilized to allow the officers to back off and then, basically, locate the person from a safe distance," Rinaldo noted.
One of the assets locally that has proven valuable for police agencies in such pursuits is the Air One helicopter from the Erie County Sheriff's Office.
Cpt. Schmidt adds sometimes it's as simple as turning to the public for assistance in tracking down a vehicle or a suspect.
"That includes using eyewitness statements and testimony by using some of the stationary plate-reading cameras that we have available to us. Even if the chase is serious enough, we can reach out to our partners with the Erie County Sheriff's Office and ask for their helicopter to become airbound so that we can follow from overhead and not have to put the rest of public in danger," Schmidt said.