Public outcry after fatalities in recent police pursuits caused Toledo City Councilman John Hobbs III to take action. 

“When you are in leadership...you get an earful about different things,” Mr. Hobbs said Thursday during a town hall meeting in South Toledo about police pursuits. “I have been getting calls, emails, and text messages. I had a concern about what was happening myself, just to understand the process.”

Mr. Hobbs, who represents District 1, said he convened the meeting at Ternion Training and Education Center, joined by Toledo police chief Michael Troendle, because he wanted to see that as much information as possible got out to the public about the Toledo Police Department’s policies on pursuits and also to listen to the community’s thoughts in the matter. 

About 15 members of the public listened as Chief Troendle outlined the department’s nationally accredited policies on “pursuits,” a term which it defines as any time a vehicle fails to yield to officers, no matter what the speed might be. 

“It is one of the necessary evils of policing,” the chief said of pursuits. “Part of our job is to protect life and property and apprehend offenders that are violating our laws. Not everyone wants to be apprehended.”  

There is a multi-layered process to review a pursuit after the fact, the chief said. The sergeant on scene reviews everything about the incident to make sure it is within standards, and that review then goes up the chain of command to a lieutenant, captain and deputy chief, getting kicked over to internal affairs if there is a violation. 

Most vehicles can be pursued by TPD, except ATVs and motorcycles, the chief said. Other rules exist including only misdemeanors can be pursued inside the city, with a crime having to rise to a felony before officers can leave the city, and rise to a felony crime with violence to leave the state. 

Further restrictions include the number of officers that can be involved in the chase, including no more than a primary unit, a secondary unit and a supervisor.       

According to last available data in 2022, there were 170 pursuits, 54 of which were for traffic violations only, Chief Troendle said.

In an interview after the meeting, he noted that those numbers for 2023 will likely be about the same. Thursday’s meeting was not necessarily about a spike in those numbers so much as they were about showing the public what is going on from the officer’s perspective. 

“We had a couple of high profile incidences that occurred in a close period of time,” the chief said, citing as an example the Nov. 19 crash at Douglas Road and Monroe Street in West Toledo which killed one person as police were pursuing a suspect in a theft. 

“The reality is we had similar accidents last year, it is just that this year they were close together in one weekend and that brought a lot of attention. So talking with the councilman [Hobbs] he said ‘why don’t we get together for a town hall and talk’ because people were upset and rightfully so.” 

Chief Troendle said that people are quick to point fingers in a case where a fatality happens as a result of a chase, but it is a complicated issue with many factors outside of an officer’s control. 

“Unfortunately, people try to place the blame on the police officer because they are the most visible person, but the reality is the person that made that decision to run and cause that accident has culpability as well,” he said. 

Conversation during the meeting touched on several topics including many that were only tangentially related to the reason for convening the meeting like the current need to hire more police officers, speed through residential areas, and the use of public and private cameras in modern policing.    

Among those in the audience was Alan Katafiasz, who was injured in the Nov. 19 crash.

He said he was not initially planning on coming to the meeting on Thursday but was happy he came.  

“I was at work today and my mom messaged me about this, I don’t really watch the news,” Mr. Katafiasz said after the meeting. 

The manager at Revitalize Fitness was visiting his girlfriend on the night of Nov. 19 when his car was totaled by the suspect in the chase, who was traveling at triple-digit speeds. He said he still suffers from short-term memory loss about that night, brain fog,  and back pain and mentioned that he feels like attending the meeting was the start of a journey to get his story out to the public. 

“A lot of it was maybe to touch base with the right person and get pointed in the right direction,” Mr. Katafiasz said, noting he has medical bills from the accident he needs to pay and is looking for advice on where to turn. “The other lady that got hit during the accident, got pretty banged up. The other person that was in the car [with the suspect], she passed away. 

“I wanted to put out there what happened to me. I am not screaming for help but I am just trying to see what there is for the average worker that gets in a situation like this,” Mr. Katafiasz, who received information about potential restitution options after the meeting. “I don’t know who is out there for the average joe.”         

Earl Mack, a retired police officer and Toledo Post commander of the Buffalo Soldiers, was also in attendance. 

He connected the issue of speeding and police pursuits back to children and families and basic lessons of respect.  

“These police officers are doing a great job,” Mr. Mack said to those gathered, “and they warrant our support, but they can’t do everything. They cannot be everywhere. We need to also be sure that we are raising our children right.”   

After the meeting, Mr. Mack added that it is about countering what children might be seeing on the street or in the news. 

“Children see those things and sometimes they think ooh that’s glamourous when it really isn’t,” he said. “So it is up to the parents.” 

First Published December 15, 2023, 3:41 p.m.