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Radcliff council adopts updated police pursuit policy after extended discussion
Summary
City council approved updated police department policies, including a revised vehicle pursuit policy based on model policies from IACP and the Kentucky League of Cities; council members questioned training hours and oversight.
The Radcliff City Council voted April 15 to adopt updated policies and procedures for the police department, including a revised vehicle-pursuit policy the chief said was derived from model policies developed by national and state professional associations.
"These policies come from IACP, Kentucky Association of Chiefs of Police, Kentucky League of Cities," the chief told the council, saying committees and a subject-matter expert help draft the model language. He described the department’s approach as keeping the model structure while tailoring a few items to local conditions.
Councilmember Jerry Brown pressed the department on training and experience requirements, noting this was his first time seeing the full rules and asking how often officers get practical driving training. "It says 4 hours in a 2 year period," Brown said, reading the policy aloud and asking whether that meets operational needs. The chief and other council members explained the limits on practicing maneuvers on public streets and that the policy is intentionally restrictive: pursuits require a high threshold of suspected felony-level conduct or reckless driving before engagement.
Other council members recounted past multi-jurisdictional pursuits and crashes in the area, and participants discussed the legal tradeoffs of a strict no-pursuit policy versus a narrowly permissive policy that leaves discretion to officers and supervisors on scene. The chief noted model policies aim to be defensible in court while allowing on-scene discretion.
After discussion the council approved the department’s policies by motion and roll-call vote. The approval covers the updated pursuit policy and the department’s policies and procedures as presented; the council did not amend the text at the meeting.
