Maryland Police Negligence Police engage routinely in high-speed automobile chases with a suspect fleeing from the scene of a crime, traffic stop, or from the command of the police officer. These chases are commonly known as "hot pursuit." Police chases occur on public highways, interstates, and residential streets. Police chases can reach speeds well over speed limits and can last for seconds, minutes, or even hours. There is no boundary as to where the chases may begin and end. They occur in open and desolate places and roadways, such as 4 to 5 lane expressways during non-rush hours and on barren country roads. The chases also occur in narrow and heavily populated areas, such as 1 to 2 lane residential streets during rush hour in a heavily populated city. When police chase a fleeing suspect, the safety of the public is at risk, especially when the suspect is only concerned with getting away from the police. With a fleeing suspect, the risk of danger to the public is heightened when the chase reaches high speeds in residential areas, near schools and parks, where children play. As such, the police officer must act reasonably while in hot pursuit so as not to cause danger and injury to the public at large. What is considered reasonable depends on the circumstances involved in each specific police chase. Gross Negligence Standard Applied to Police Officers In the District of Columbia and Maryland, the District of Columbia and Maryland governments will only be liable for any injury to the public from a police chase where the police officer acted with "gross negligence." What is gross negligence? It is more than simple negligence. While simple or ordinary negligence only requires a finding that a person acted unreasonably in breaching a standard of care, gross negligence requires a showing that the police officer acted with "such an extreme deviation from the ordinary standard of care as to support a finding of wanton, willful or reckless disregard or conscious indifference for the rights and safety of others." Such deviation includes "conduct so extreme as to connote some sort of bad faith."   Where it cannot be shown that the police officer had some sort of bad faith while involved in the hot pursuit, a finding of reckless disregard may exist. Reckless disregard is shown where the police officer disregarded a risk "so obvious that the officer must be taken to be aware of it and so great as to make it highly probable that harm would follow." Factors Determining Gross Negligence Courts in the District of Columbia consider the following factors in determining whether gross negligence exists: The length of the chase; The type of neighborhood; The characteristics of the street or roadways; The presence of vehicular or pedestrian traffic; Weather conditions and visibility; and The seriousness of the offense for which the police are pursuing the offender. A variation of these factors requires courts to consider each police chase on a case-by-case basis. In light of the totality of the aforementioned circumstances, courts may determine that a police officer's pursuit or continued pursuit of a fleeing suspect was done with gross negligence or reckless disregard of public safety.

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