The Los Angeles Police Department says officers were involved in 45% more car chases last year, and about a third of them resulted in crashes.
Of those wrecks, the percentage of injuries to innocent motorists or pedestrians rose by about 28%, with 114 reported in 2024 compared with 89 in 2023, according to new data prepared by the department.
Three people who weren't involved in the pursuits were killed in 2024, including a woman who was struck by a driver fleeing officers on Mason Avenue in Winnetka in November 2024.
In the first five weeks of 2025, the LAPD said officers were involved in 79 pursuits, or nearly 16 per week, a reduction from the average of 21 per week in 2024, and the department reported only four of this year’s car chases resulted in injuries.
Get top local stories in Southern California delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC LA's News Headlines newsletter.
“The Department will continue to review pursuit trends, reinforce training efforts, and assess the effectiveness of pursuit policies in minimizing risks, while maintaining effective law enforcement operations,” Deputy Chief Don Graham wrote in prepared remarks to the Board of Police Commissioners, which requested an update on the hazards of pursuits at a recent meeting.
In April, 2023 the Commissioners began to discuss whether additional limits were needed on the types of incidents and investigations where pursuits would be permitted, after a review of more than 4,000 chases between 2018 and 2023 showed about 25% ended in an injury-causing crash, and of those hurt, nearly half were innocent drivers or pedestrians, described as “3rd parties” in the analysis.
“I guess what we’re struggling with is where do we draw the line,” said former Commission president William J. Briggs, Jr. in 2023.
“So that’s like moral dilemma for me, it’s like, do we really need to pursue stolen vehicles if it’s going to lead to some tragedy, right, but then again, that’s lawlessness, right,” asked Commissioner Maria Lou Calanche at the same meeting.
The most recent data shows fewer officers were found to have violated policies or procedures in 2024 in either initiating or continuing a pursuit despite the increase in the number of chases, although it was not clear of all of the 2024 incidents had fully adjudicated at the time the report was prepared.
LAPD pursuits
Graham wrote that enforcing Department rules for pursuits continues to be a focus, and that, “continued accountability measures are necessary to ensure that officers adhere to established pursuit protocols.”
Stolen cars, reckless driving and driving under the influence made up more than 66% of the reasons pursuits were started across 2023, 2024, and 2025, the LAPD wrote.
In November 2024, Chief Jim McDonnell said he was open to a new evaluation of the department’s pursuit rules, and said more chases were being called-off early because of danger than in previous years.
“At the end of the day, it is a balance, trying to be able to hold people accountable and not give a free pass to anybody who decides to run,” McDonnell told NBCLA.
“But at the same time, be as judicious and careful as we can, because we know the potential outcome could be very tragic.”
