Arkansas State Police Director Col. Mike Hagar (left) addresses reporters at a news conference at ASP’s Camp Robinson training facility in North Little Rock on Friday, February 28, 2025. Prosecuting attorneys Daniel Shue of the 12th Judicial District (center) and Will Jones of the 6th Judicial District (right) listen. (Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate)
Arkansas State Police leaders and the state’s elected prosecuting attorneys announced Friday that they will increase their enforcement of laws against fleeing from police, citing an increase in the number of car chases and associated injuries and deaths in recent years.
“From this day forward, all felony fleeing cases will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” ASP Director Col. Mike Hagar said at a news conference. “We want the message to be very clear: we will pursue you, we will stop you and the men and women standing behind me will prosecute you.”
Most of the state’s 28 prosecuting attorneys and state prosecutor coordinator Bob McMahan attended the press conference at ASP’s Camp Robinson training facility in North Little Rock, where troopers are trained in vehicle pursuit maneuvers.
One of state troopers’ tools to end a pursuit is the precise immobilization technique (PIT) maneuver, in which a trooper purposely collides a vehicle into the car being pursued.
The PIT maneuver led to eight deaths in Arkansas between 2017 and June 2024, 40/29 News in Rogers reported last year.
ASP released a public service announcement Friday afternoon that included footage of PIT maneuvers conducted by state troopers. In the video, Hagar said it’s “the safest thing for the public” for troopers in pursuit of a fleeing vehicle to “put ‘em in the ditch.”
Central Arkansas saw 250 more pursuits in 2022 than in 2017, Hagar said at the news conference. He was commander of ASP’s Troop A during that time.
In response to questions from reporters, Hagar said he did not know why the number of pursuits spiked.
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Statewide, ASP troopers engaged in 553 pursuits in 2024, Hagar said. These instances led to the deaths of three suspects and three civilians, as well as injuries to nine civilians, 14 troopers and 83 suspects.
“If we engage in a pursuit, the number one priority is to stop that pursuit,” he said. “…We’re going to put public safety first. We don’t engage in high-speed parades.”
Fleeing law enforcement in a vehicle is a Class A misdemeanor. Assisting someone in fleeing is also a chargeable offense, said Daniel Shue, prosecuting attorney for the 12th Judicial District and president of the Arkansas Prosecuting Attorney’s Association.
If a driver “creates a substantial danger of death or serious physical injury to another person” and displays “extreme indifference to the value of human life,” fleeing was considered a Class D felony until a 2021 law increased it to a Class C felony. A 2023 law made fleeing a Class D felony if the driver exceeds the posted speed limit.
Hagar said ASP will advocate for more legislative action on fleeing during the current session.