Local law enforcement agencies have no plans to shelve risky spike strips

Wichita area authorities say they have no plans to stop using spike strips, even though risks associated with the tire-deflation devices have prompted some law enforcement agencies around the country to stop using them.

The strips are deployed to aid in the apprehension of fleeing suspects. Law enforcement officers have to stay near where the strips have been tossed so they can pull the spikes off the road before patrol cars chasing the suspects reach the same point.

That can leave the officers vulnerable: Between 1996, when spike strips were first introduced, and 2011, 26 law enforcement officers were killed while deploying them.

As a result, the FBI in 2012 issued a bulletin saying law enforcement agencies “should weigh other options … to end high speed chases.”

But the spike strips remain in use in and around Wichita.

Sedgwick County sheriff’s deputies have deployed spike strips 12 times over an 18-month span ending Aug. 31.

“It’s very effective in stopping the chase,” sheriff’s Lt. Lin Dehning said. “The challenge is getting the deputy into position.”

Officers have to figure out whether they will be able to intercept the anticipated path of someone fleeing law enforcement. Next, they have to be able to get into position to deploy the strips – and then remove them once the suspect vehicle has passed.

“It’s kind of a guessing game or a toss of the dice,” Kansas Highway Patrol Master Trooper Erik Molleker said. “There’s a lot of factors that go into it. The sun and moon have to align just right” for everything to fall into place for a successful use of the spike strips.

A couple of recent incidents in and around Wichita illustrate the dangers and unpredictability associated with spike strips.

Fleeing from Derby police officers after allegedly attempting to rob a phone store and shooting a customer, James Michael Phillips swerved around a set of spike strips set up on K-15 near Pawnee on Aug. 11 and crashed into a Wichita Police Department patrol car. The officer who deployed the spike strips escaped injury because he was not in or near the patrol car when it was struck, authorities said.

Last week, a group of teens stole a Ford F-150 and evaded a police pursuit in Wichita before being spotted again in Bel Aire. Another chase began involving multiple law enforcement agencies and extending east into Butler County.

The teens spotted a Butler County sheriff’s deputy waiting to deploy spike strips on K-254 and used the median to turn around and head back west. A Kansas Highway Patrol trooper deployed spike strips at K-254 and 127th Street East and one tire of the F-150 was spiked, authorities have said.

The pickup turned north on Greenwich and one of the four teens jumped out as the vehicle was still moving just south of 69th Street North. At 101st Street, a Sedgwick County sheriff’s deputy and a highway patrol trooper laid out two sets of spike strips spanning the entire roadway. The F-150 went over the strips, which punctured the remaining tires.

Ultimately the teens were arrested after turning onto a street in Furley and crashing into a ditch.

“The intent is not to deflate the tire right away,” Molleker said.

A sudden deflation, such as in a blow-out, could prompt the driver to lose control and put other motorists at risk, law enforcement officials say. Once a tire is punctured, the deflation is gradual.

In more than 11 years as a trooper, Molleker said, he has only deployed stop sticks once.

Officers are taught to do so from cover other than their patrol car – “totally obscured from the vision of the suspect so he can’t run into us or over us,” Molleker said.

The strips are tethered to a string and are designed to be thrown, then retrieved by a tug on the string.

“It’s an art to deploy them,” Wichita police Lt. Don Phelps said. “When you go to toss them, once you let go you’re done. You’re not going to get a second chance.”

The risks associated with deploying spike strips prompted the Dallas Police Department to stop using them in 2012. The Denver suburb of Longmont stopped using them earlier this year after a Colorado State Patrol cadet was killed while putting the spikes on a road near the city.

Law enforcement officials in the Wichita area have no plans to eliminate use of spike strips.

“We have them, and we continue to use them,” Derby police chief Robert Lee said. “Chases are just one of those things that are inherently unpredictable and dangerous.

“It’s a tool that we don’t want to be without should we need it.”

Phelps said cadets in the training academy are taught how to deploy the strips.

“We work them pretty dadgum hard,” Phelps said of the recruits.

The strips “are proven to work,” he said. “We’re going to use them.”

The National Association of Chiefs of Police hasn’t taken a stance on the use of spike strips, said Jack Rinchich, president of the organization. That choice is left up to each law enforcement agency.

“Overall, I think it’s a valuable tool,” Rinchich said.

For every negative outcome, he said there have been hundreds of successful deployments.

“If an innocent motorist hits one of those spike strips and loses control and has an accident, you’re going to face liability,” Rinchich said.

Nevertheless, he said, “I think we should keep it.”

Yet changes are likely needed, said Phelps, with Wichita police.

Technological advancements allow motorists to continue driving for many miles even after they’ve had a tire punctured by a nail or other road debris. That same technology may render current versions of spike strips largely ineffective.

“They’ve got to look at that” and see what the next step is, Phelps said.

This story was originally published September 7, 2015 at 2:55 PM with the headline "Local law enforcement agencies have no plans to shelve risky spike strips."