High-Speed Chase in LA
A suspect led the LAPD on a dangerous, high-speed chase through the San Fernando Valley on Thursday night, at times reaching 100 mph. The 20-minute pursuit was widely covered by local news and ended with the driver's arrest in Sylmar.
- The Los Angeles Police Department was involved in 1,116 pursuits in 2024, a significant increase from 715 in the latter part of 2023. Nearly a third of the chases in 2024 resulted in crashes. - From 2018 to early 2023, the LAPD engaged in 4,203 vehicle pursuits, with 1,592 of them ending in a traffic collision. These collisions resulted in injuries or death in 1,032 instances. - The most common reason for initiating a pursuit between 2023 and early 2025 was a stolen vehicle, accounting for 45% of all chases. Driving under the influence was the second most frequent cause at 15%. - The average LAPD pursuit lasts approximately 5.34 minutes, and the majority (72%) are over in less than five minutes. The average speed during a pursuit is 46 miles per hour. - LAPD policy allows officers to pursue suspects of both felonies and misdemeanors. However, the policy requires officers and supervisors to continuously evaluate the necessity of the chase, weighing the seriousness of the offense against the potential danger to the public. - A supervisor is assigned to monitor and manage every pursuit. They have the authority to call off the chase if the risks become too high. The department's primary objective in many cases is to switch to a "tracking mode," using an air unit to follow the suspect while ground units back off to reduce immediate danger. - In 2021, of the 12,513 police pursuits in California, over 20% resulted in a crash, leading to 890 injuries and 44 fatalities. Bystanders accounted for 14 of those deaths. - The number of pursuits in the Southern Division of the California Highway Patrol, which includes Los Angeles County, nearly doubled from 474 in 2018 to 864 in 2022.
