To High-Speed Chase or Not to High-Speed Chase? That's the Question for the Council.

​This afternoon's meeting of the council's Public Safety Committee should be a particularly good one; its agenda, covering everything from reality teevee shows to neighborhood crime watch groups to the latest crime stats, is action-packed. Andrea, but of course, will liveblog. But the item most likely to generate interest is Dallas Police Department Pursuit Overview, in which the officials offer a look back at the '06 changes then-Chief David Kunkle made to the DPD's policy regarding high-speed chases.

The reason for the review: August 19's slow-speed chase that landed on a Love Field Airport runway. Says Dwaine Caraway, head of the Public Safety Committee, DPD's policy -- which disallows, among other things, roadblocks, forcing the getaway car off the road by getting next to or in front of it and "bumping or ramming the fleeing vehicle" --is too restrictive. On the other hand, says the briefing, as the number of pursuits dropped significantly since the policy kicked in June '06, so too has the number of officers and suspects injured or killed. In fact, says the briefing, "No innocent 3rd party citizens have been reported killed during a DPD pursuit since the implementation of the current policy."

But the most intriguing part of the briefing is the moment-by-moment time line of the August 19 chase, in which you'll find dash-cam photos from the chase -- that's one at top -- and details such as this one: "Officers report that suspect appears to be talking and pointing at people as if he's amused with the situation."