KSHB 41 reporter Isabella Ledonne reports on stories in Overland Park, Johnson County and topics about government accountability. This story is a follow through of KSHB 41's In-Depth reporting of police pursuit policy. Share your story idea with Isabella.
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The Independence Police Department's chase policy was at the center of discussion at the city council study session on Monday night.
It comes after a police chase on New Year's Eve ended in a wreck that killed one person and injured three others. The suspect was not caught during the chase.
That sparked community members to call on city leaders to take action to address the high number of police chases for traffic violations and non-violent misdemeanors.
"[Police] know they have a problem, the city council knows we have a problem and the community knows we have a problem," Jason White said.
The city council heard the police department's recommendations on the current policy Monday night.
2025 was a record year for Independence police chases, with officers initiating 541 pursuits. 51% of those were terminated, but the number of continued pursuits at 268 was still the highest number since 2022 according to department data.
131 felony charges came from 2025 pursuits and 66 incidents involved an armed suspect. Two suspects and one civilian were killed during pursuits in 2025. Seven civilians were injured.
The Independence Police Department is considering two policy changes. The first option would keep the current pursuit policy as is, but would add more supervisor oversight on decisions to terminate pursuits. The second would restrict officers to chase only in dangerous felonies.
Independence has some of the highest rates of police pursuits in the metro.
"I think 500 is way too many," Interim Police Chief Douglas Brinkley said. "I think our policy is pretty effective, but I do think we can actually provide more guidance for our younger officers on what circumstances constitute our ability to pursue for longer periods of time.”
There were four times as many police chases in Independence than Kansas City, Missouri, which only had 137 in 2025. Independence has a significantly smaller population at 121,000 compared to KCMO's 500,000.
65% of Independence's police pursuits in 2025 were for traffic violations.
White, who is a former Independence city council member, has been pushing for a policy change.
"We've had way too many [pursuits], we've gone way too fast for innocuous, little offenses and we've had tragedies," White said. "So something is broken."
The first option for policy change would keep Independence's discretionary pursuit policy, which currently allows officers to chase for traffic violations, misdemeanors, DUI offenses and non-violent felony offenses. But it would add more supervisory oversight and pursuit review.
Interim Chief Brinkley explained that would take longer to see change.
"One supervisor may let [the pursuit] go longer than the next supervisor, so trying to find that consistency in those decisions is what we're trying to do," Interim Chief Brinkley said. "It's going to take time to hone it in."
Brinkley is leaning toward the second recommendation option. It would change the police department's policy to restrictive, in which officers could only pursue for dangerous felonies or when the officer believes the person or the community is in danger.
Brinkley noted the second option is consistent with policy recommendations from a 2025 national external audit review and other regional agencies like KCK, KCMO and Blue Springs.
"I'm always cautious if we're pursuing for minor traffic violations," Interim Chief Brinkley said. "Is it worth putting the officer's life in danger, pursuing the person in danger and also the general public?"
City leaders wanted to know if changing the pursuit rules will change crime levels in the community.
"No one wants a fatality, but no one wants to suffer serious crimes because they changed the policy," Mayor Rory Rowland said.
“There's a couple different studies out there to say the opposite," Interim Chief Brinkley responded. "The crime has not gone up when they restrict our policies.”
With either policy option, the police department plans to implement greater oversight and management where supervisors must acknowledge and approve the continuance of the pursuit. There will also be professional standards reviews in which the department will randomly review five pursuits a month and evaluate the entire incident with chain of command reviews.
"There is a degree of trust," White said. "President Reagan always said, 'Trust, but verify,' and we intend to verify."
The Independence City Manager will ultimately make the decision on the department's new policy.
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