Opinion ID: 2104012
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Heading: does wadewitz apply to a police pursuit case?

Text: In both Clark and Ener, the court of appeals analyzed the defendants' summary judgment evidence under the Wadewitz factors. 979 S.W.2d 707, 713; 20 S.W.3d 712, 715. The University of Houston argues that the Wadewitz factors do not apply in a police pursuit case. It contends that the risk considerations in emergency response cases and police pursuit cases are fundamentally different. The primary difference, the University argues, is that in an emergency response case, the officer has more control over the consequences of his actions in responding to an emergency and therefore can more easily assess the risks involved in his actions. The typical risk that an officer faces in responding to an emergency is that he will collide with a third party on his way to the emergency. But, the University argues, in a police pursuit case, the typical risk is that the criminal suspect being pursued will injure a third party. Thus, the University contends, it is more difficult to control the consequences of a police pursuit and evaluate its risks. The University also argues that, in responding to an emergency, an officer has the benefit of a defined point in time and space to balance the need to respond and risks of responding and then make a decision. But in police pursuits, it argues, officers must respond to an ongoing and evolving situation. Clark counters that any distinction between emergency responses and police pursuits does not necessitate different risk and need assessments. Clark notes that whether the risk is a criminal suspect colliding with a third party or the officer colliding with a third party, the officer retains the same amount of discretion to initiate or continue his pursuit or emergency response. In both scenarios, his decisions impact the risks. Further, Clark points out that the risk analysis in both emergency response and police pursuit cases does not focus only on a specific point in time. Rather, officers in both situations will have to evaluate risks and make decisions in response to changing situations. Lastly, Clark points out that courts of appeals have applied Wadewitz in police pursuit cases. See State v. Saenz, 967 S.W.2d 910, 914 (Tex.App.-Corpus Christi 1998, pet. denied); Chapa v. Aguilar, 962 S.W.2d 111, 114 (Tex.App.-Houston [1 st Dist.] 1997, no pet.). We agree with Clark that the Wadewitz need and risk factors apply to good faith determinations in police pursuits as well as emergency responses. The Chambers balancing test inherently includes all the Wadewitz factors. Chambers requires, in the summary judgment context, that an officer in a police pursuit case conclusively prove that a reasonably prudent officer, under the same or similar circumstances, could have believed that the need to immediately apprehend the suspect outweighed a clear risk of harm to the public in continuing the pursuit. See Chambers, 883 S.W.2d at 656. The Chambers need element requires an officer to assess the need to immediately apprehend the suspect. In both an emergency response and a police pursuit, such an assessment necessarily includes the general considerations Wadewitz provides: the seriousness of the crime or accident to which the officer responds, whether the officer's immediate presence is necessary to apprehend a suspect or to prevent injury or loss of life, and what alternative courses of action, if any are available to achieve a comparable result. See Wadewitz, 951 S.W.2d at 467. Similarly, the Chambers risk elementa clear risk of harm to the public in continuing the pursuitnecessarily includes considerations of the nature, severity, likelihood, and obviousness of the risks of the officer's actions. Wadewitz, 951 S.W.2d at 467. The University's arguments do not persuade us otherwise. First, the University points out that, in an emergency response, the officer typically has a fixed destination and in a police pursuit, the officer does not know where the chase will ultimately end. But both emergency responses and police pursuits may involve rapidly changing circumstances. See, e.g., Wadewitz, 951 S.W.2d at 467. Therefore, contrary to the University's arguments, both situations require a continuing assessment of need and risk. See Wadewitz, 951 S.W.2d at 467 (holding that an officer responding to an emergency did not establish good faith because although his summary judgment evidence described why he chose to proceed on an emergency basis and why he chose a certain route to the scene, it did not include facts showing that he evaluated the risks created by his actions on the way to the emergency); Chambers, 883 S.W.2d at 656-57 ([A]n officer must prove that a reasonably prudent officer might have believed that the pursuit should have been continued.). Second, despite their differences, pursuing a suspect and responding to an emergency involve the same general risk to the publiccollision with a third party. The University distinguishes between emergency responses and police pursuits based on who is at risk of colliding with a third party. The University argues that in an emergency response, the risk is that an officer will collide with a third party, while in a police pursuit, the risk is that the suspect will collide with a third party. On the contrary, as the facts in Ener demonstrate, an officer in a police pursuit must assess both the risk that the suspect will injure a third party and the risk that the officer himself will injure a third party. These multiple risks in a pursuit are almost always more difficult to assess than an emergency response's risks. And although the general risks of a police pursuit are foreseeable, the fleeing suspect's specific actions during pursuit are likely to be unpredictable and create unforeseeable risks. But both Wadewitz and Chambers acknowledge that the circumstances will differ in every case and that balancing risk and need must be done in light of those particular circumstances. See Chambers, 883 S.W.2d at 656; Wadewitz, 951 S.W.2d at 467. Indeed, one of Wadewitz 's risk factors is whether any risk of harm would be clear to a reasonably prudent officer. Therefore, applying the Wadewitz factors does not penalize an officer for his inability to perceive or evaluate a risk due to circumstances beyond his control, such as the necessity to make a split-second decision, or the inability to foresee a particular risk caused by a fleeing suspect or otherwise. Nor does it prevent an officer from pursuing suspects for traffic violations or from pursuing suspects in residential or other populated or high traffic areas. The good faith test is whether, considering all the circumstances, a reasonably prudent officer could have believed that the need to immediately apprehend a suspect is outweighed by a clear risk of harm to the public in initiating or continuing pursuit. See Chambers, 883 S.W.2d at 656. We recognize that, depending on the circumstances, an officer may not be able to thoroughly analyze each need or risk factor, and that this alone should not prevent the officer from establishing good faith. Police officers must make their decisions about pursuing a suspect rapidly and while under pressure. See Travis v. City of Mesquite, 830 S.W.2d 94, 98 (Tex.1992). At the same time, even if the circumstances require an officer's immediate response, an officer pursuing a suspect in good faith should be able and should be required to quickly balance the need to immediately apprehend the suspect, based on the seriousness of the situation and the existence of any alternative actions, with the degree and likelihood of the risks of the officer's actions. See Wadewitz, 951 S.W.2d at 467. Accordingly, we conclude that to establish good faith in a police pursuit case, an officer must conclusively prove that a reasonably prudent officer in the same or similar circumstances could agree that the need to immediately apprehend the suspect outweighed the risk of harm to the public in continuing the pursuit, taking into account all the Wadewitz factors.