Following the deadly Ybor City crash last fall, the Tampa Police Department revised its policies on vehicle pursuits. <\/p>\n
An internal review found that Tampa police did not ask the Florida Highway Patrol, a state agency, to pursue the driver before he crashed into a nightclub on 7th avenue, killing four and injuring 13. <\/p>\n
After the crash, community members questioned<\/a> FHP’s pursuit policy, which differs from TPD’s. <\/p>\n FHP guidelines on pursuits allow chases for a wide range of offenses, while TPD restricts pursuits<\/a> to only cases involving forcible felonies or serious crimes.<\/p>\n The internal memo from Tampa police states that while “no policy violations occurred” the night of the crash, the policy was updated to further clarify officers are “prohibited from requesting another agency to initiate a pursuit when TPD policy does not allow us to do so.”<\/p>\n The memo also said, as a proactive measure, TPD took back eight portable radios previously issued to the FHP. <\/p>\n The radios allowed for “efficient communication” on a citywide channel between officers and other law enforcement agencies in addition to the Statewide Law Enforcement Radio System<\/a>, which requires officers to patch in. <\/p>\n A department spokesperson told WUSF that while FHP had the radios on the night of the crash, they were not used to communicate.<\/p>\n ALSO READ: An expert in pursuits questions the police chase that ended in a fatal Ybor City crash<\/a><\/p>\n Moving forward, the memo says “communication with FHP will be coordinated with our Communications Division with the main radio frequencies to ensure transparency and accountability.”<\/p>\n TPD added the following line under their procedures: “Absent exigent operational need, no TPD personnel shall provide a law enforcement officer from another agency with a TPD portable radio for joint enforcement operations without express authorization from a captain or higher authority.”<\/p>\n