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. . . ARDEN HILLS REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES SEPTEMBER 12, 2005 3 tough one and knowing there are not easy answers. He noted he had looked at the Ramsey County and Roseville pursuit policies. He stated there does not appear to be any uniformity between police jurisdictions. He questioned whether or not there was some value in having a unifoml policy that would be adopted statewide. Hc noted the entire situation was a lot different in the metro area now compared to the way the area was 20 or 30 years ago when the area was more rural and he believed a police pursuit was a much more dangerous proposition in today's world. He asked if it was wise not having a pursuit policy that did not spell out parameters. Bob Fletcher, Ramsey County Sheriff, stated he has been involved in over 100 pursuits in the course of his career with none of them resulting in serious bodily harm. He noted apprehensions from pursuits were happening on a daily basis without any injury. He indicated the "bad" guys were going to jail because of these pursuits with very few injuries. He stated about six years ago a uniform pursuit policy was put in place and every police agency was required to adopt the policy with some exceptions. He indicated they were continually looking at this as law enforcement professionals and they took the pursuit policy very seriously. He believed they were able to train officers to understand where the balance was. He stated it appeared they had three choices - They have a policy which allowed people to chase indiscriminately; a policy that said nobody can be chased; or they attempt to draft guidelines to address pursuits. He stated without being allowed to pursue, there would be no incentive for anyone to stop. He noted they could not go that far. He indicated they needed to balance the policy with the perpetrators. He stated the key was to have competent, qualified, and professional officers who had the best interest of the community in mind. He noted they have never had a life threatening injury in the 12 years he has been with the Sheriff s Department. He stated they were open to engaging in a discussion with the Cities in Ramsey County as to where the threshold should be when there was a pursuit. He noted there were times when actual pursuit was safer than not pursuing. He believed they have struck the proper balance and he believed their pursuit policy was more defined than Roseville's pursuit policy. He stated their supervisors were very prone to curtailing the pursuit and many times pursuits were ended by the Sergeant. He noted they have had pursuit training in the past three years to have officers disengage the emotion of a pursuit. He stated they have had an excellent track record. He indicated there was always a supervisor listening in to the radio communications and that supervisor had the authority to call of any pursuit. Councilmember Larson agreed the Ramsey County Sheriffs Department had better pursuit language than the City of Roseville's pursuit policy. Councilmember Grant asked what was the criteria for which intersections get Opticons Sheriff Fletcher replied in his opinion, all intersections should get them, but the reality was it came down to who paid for the Opticons Councilmember Larson asked if there were similar thresholds for when sirens and lights should be used in responding to a call. Sheriff Fletcher statcd when the standards were adopted, siren and lights were not part of the standards, but the general standard for red lights and sirens is when a person's life is in danger. He noted a crime in progress or the likelihood of a crime in progress would justify red lights and sirens. He indicated, however, that when red light and sirens are used this does not necessarily mean that speed is accelerated.