• 10
  • September
    2010

According to the Houston Police Department's high-speed pursuit policy, officers are forbidden from using private vehicles as part of a roadblock. Officers are also required to adequately "assess the risk of bodily harm" to innocent bystanders in setting up any sort of roadblock.

In a federal lawsuit filed recently in Houston by the families of two men injured during a police roadblock in January 2009, officers from the city's police department are accused of violating both procedural protocols. Because of this disregard, the families allege, both men suffered irreversible brain injuries and face a lifetime of dependence on others for day-to-day needs.

The accident in question occurred on the night of January 14, 2009. A police officer had stopped to check on a stalled car, when the vehicle's driver stole the officers patrol unit and sparked a high-speed chase.

Further down the highway, police officers parked squad cars across two lanes of traffic. In one lane, they blocked passersby from proceeding, essentially creating a wall of cars. In a third lane next to the parked bystanders, police deployed a spike strip which they hoped to stop the suspect with.

As the lawsuit points out, officers essentially created a barrier of innocent drivers between themselves and the lane they expected the fleeing suspect to take - except she didn't.

Instead, the runaway driver slammed into the back of the car containing both two men.

Houston police spokesmen have defended the officers' actions in setting up the roadblock, claiming that they did not have enough time to evacuate the roadway and that officers are granted "immunity if they are responding to an emergency."

At this point, a hearing date has not been reported.

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