MSP Negaunee Post addresses recent pursuit policy changes

NEGAUNEE TOWNSHIP, Mich. ( WJMN ) — The Upper Peninsula has recently seen an increase in police pursuits, with three pursuits in Marquette County this month.

During those pursuits, Michigan State Police did not give chase. This is due to a recent amendment to MSP’s police pursuits policy . In March, the agency said troopers “may only engage in a pursuit there is probable cause to believe the driver or occupant of the pursued vehicle has committed a life-threatening or violent felony.” The goal, it said, is to decrease risk of harm.

But Lt. Mark Giannunzio, spokesperson out of MSP’s Negaunee Post, said that doesn’t mean suspects who flee are off the hook.

“A good analogy would be … we attempt to stop you because you weren’t wearing your seat belt,” Giannunzio said. “And now that you know that the state police (aren’t) going to chase and you’re going to take off, you’ve not committed a felony. We are going to find you and we’re going to charge you with that felony. And now you’re facing prison time over not wearing your seat belt. So it’s not worth anybody in the public that maybe breaks a minor law to flee from us. We’re going to find you. We’re going to hold you accountable.”

Giannunzio went on to say that the MSP pursuit policy is not state law.

“There’s no state law that says that our police officers or troopers can’t pursue somebody even for that seat belt violation. This is strictly an MSP policy. So our troopers are not violating law. If someone in the public sees them chasing somebody and they think they shouldn’t have been, they’re not violating a law. They may have a policy issue that we’re going to look into, but our troopers make outstanding decisions,” Giannunzio said. “I can say that I’ve reviewed all the pursuits that we’ve had at the post, all the nonpursuits that we’ve had at the post. Our troopers make outstanding decisions on a daily basis. There is no trooper here or no trooper in the Upper Peninsula that I have ever met that hasn’t made the right decision when it comes down to this policy.”

The chase policy, as well as all other non-onfidential department official orders, can be found online on MSP’s Transparency and Accountability webpage .

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