Solo Unit, 2230 Hours: The Pursuit Decision

Decision: terminate. The reasoning has to be built on the two columns a supervisor and a plaintiff's lawyer will both use - the need for immediate apprehension versus the risk created.

Need for apprehension (weak):

• The only known offense at the moment of the pursuit is a speeding violation; fleeing to elude becomes a felony under NC law only in specified aggravating circumstances, and at this instant you cannot articulate one.
• There is no known violent felony, no victim in danger, no weapon, no abduction.
• You have the plate and a solid identification trail. The suspect is not going to disappear because you stopped chasing; the case gets made by follow-up, not by a bumper.

Risk (high and climbing):

• Night, light rain, no shoulder, unlit two-lane - the worst combination for a pursuit.
• Suspect already running stop signs and crossing the center line at 85; his driving is deteriorating, not stabilizing.
• You are solo, eight miles from resources. If this ends in a crash, you have no second officer to cover, contain, or render aid.
• Your own policy language supports termination: imminent threat to others is not established, and the risk plainly outweighs the need.

Controlling principle: a pursuit is not one decision, it is a decision renewed every few seconds. Continuing simply because you already started converts a policy question into a momentum problem.

Broadcast (concise, in this order):

• Unit identifier and "in pursuit."
• Location and direction of travel, including the next cross street.
• Speed and the reason for the stop/offense.
• Plate, vehicle description, and occupant information if known.
• Traffic, weather, road, and lighting conditions.
• That you are solo and the ETA of backup.
• Request a supervisor and an explicit pursuit decision.

Keep the channel clear and give position updates at intervals; a pursuit broadcast that stops is a pursuit nobody can supervise.

What the supervisor needs from you:

• The offense and whether anyone is in immediate danger.
• Current speed, traffic density, and road conditions as they change.
• Your unit status (solo, no cover, no air support).
• A candid statement of whether you can articulate that the risk is justified - and a willingness to accept termination without arguing about it.

In the record: time of initiation, speeds, violations observed, radio traffic, supervisory contacts and the time of any termination order. If the pursuit is later reviewed, the recording and CAD log will be read against your report line by line.

Do:

• Acknowledge the termination on the radio so it is recorded, and state your location and direction.
• Deactivate lights and siren, decelerate to the posted limit, and physically stop pursuing.
• Broadcast the plate, description, last known location and direction, and the fact that the vehicle is now unreported; let dispatch and the neighboring jurisdiction decide what to do with it.
• Complete an incident report documenting the initial offense, the eluding, the termination decision, and the basis for it.
• Consider a lawful follow-up at the registered address later, with a supervisor's awareness, to identify the driver.

Do not:

• Shadow the vehicle at a distance with lights off. That is a pursuit in everything but name, it is dishonest on the radio, and it is exactly the conduct the policy was written to stop.
• Attempt a PIT, a rolling roadblock, or a boxing maneuver without authorization and training.
• Chase the radio: repeatedly running the plate and asking dispatch to "see if he's still moving" is how a terminated pursuit quietly restarts.
• Let adrenaline drive a second decision. The next call you take, you are still 20 minutes amped up - say so if it matters.