Solo Officer, Two Burglars, and a Six-Foot Fence

Do not go over the fence alone. The reasoning, factor by factor:

• Offense: burglary of a detached garage is a serious property felony, not a violent crime in progress against a person. It does not justify the highest-risk tactic available.
• Weapon: a crowbar in hand. A solo officer who catches up in a dark backyard is now in a close-quarters fight against an impact weapon with no cover and no one to call for help.
• Environment: unknown yards, dog runs, sheds, blind corners, and fences that have to be climbed twice. Novak has already been injured on one fence.
• Resources and timing: four minutes to backup, twenty-five to K9, no air support. That is a short wait relative to the risk.
• Loss of evidence: the tools and the crowbar are likely dropped nearby and can be recovered.

Recommended course: broadcast immediately, give the direction of travel and description, request a perimeter on the far side of the block, hold the fence line as the containment point, and wait for the arriving unit to take one side while Novak holds the other. K9 will do the yard work far better than a lone officer. If the suspect emerges, he is contained and observable - that is a better outcome than a blind pursuit.

The counterweight: if the fleeing subject were a violent felon, or if a victim were inside the structure with him, the calculus changes and immediate action may be justified. It is not the case here.

A short, ordered, repetitive broadcast beats a long complete one.

1. Unit and location - who is calling and exactly where, so responding units can navigate.
2. What happened - burglary in progress, two males fled, one is armed with a crowbar.
3. Direction and method of travel - alley versus backyards, direction of flight, the fence line.
4. Descriptions - clothing, build, race, anything distinctive, updated as it changes.
5. Requested resources - K9, perimeter units, supervisor, air if it becomes available.
6. Officer status - 'one officer, no pursuit, holding the north fence line,' so nobody arrives assuming a foot chase is underway.
7. Victim status - homeowner and two children inside, no contact yet.

Then repeat the whole thing in condensed form. Officers arriving mid-broadcast did not hear the first half. Update the channel the moment anything changes: a suspect emerges, is lost, or is taken into custody. Clear the broadcast explicitly when it is over - unanswered 'shots fired' broadcasts keep units running code for no reason.

Tactically: stop. Do not continue searching an uncontained yard alone. Back out the way he came, broadcast the loss of sight and the last known location, and re-establish the perimeter. An officer searching alone in the dark for an armed subject who knows the terrain is the most dangerous version of this call.

Investigate the scene he does control: the fence line, the yard entry point, any dropped item, blood on the fence, footwear impressions in the yard, and the crowbar. Protect the point of entry from the homeowner and from other responders.

Document:

• Why the pursuit started and why it ended - the actual reason, not a sanitized one.
• The route, the time, the distance, and the point where sight was lost.
• The injury to his forearm, how it happened, and a photograph of it.
• All broadcasts made and at what time.
• The decision points: what he saw at the fence, what he knew about backup and K9, and why he crossed.

Notify the supervisor before the end of shift and expect a pursuit review. If department policy restricts solo foot pursuits over fences, the honest answer - 'I made a decision that policy discourages because I believed the risk was acceptable' - is better than a report that quietly omits the pursuit. Reports that omit the chase are the ones that end careers.