US Park Police under Trump embrace high-speed chases. Two people have died | CNN Politics

With a US Park Police cruiser in pursuit last month, the driver of a Honda Accord slammed into Nolberto Meza on his moped, in Washington, DC, instantly killing the Venezuelan national and splattering the food he was delivering on the hot pavement, according to the Metropolitan Police Department. The allegedly stolen Honda then plowed into a vehicle with two Chinese embassy officials, injuring the diplomats before coming to a stop, the police and an eyewitness said. The “confirmed stolen vehicle” failed to yield during a traffic stop, leading to the chase, Park Police said, and the three young men in the Honda fled on foot after the accident until officers caught up and arrested them. After President Donald Trump declared a crime emergency in the nation’s capital last August, the Park Police adopted a directive lowering the baseline for initiating high-speed pursuits — a shift that some law enforcement experts warn is dangerous. Even after Trump’s emergency declaration expired last year, the looser pursuit policy remains in effect along with increased federal presence in the city. Many police departments nationwide have shifted away from vehicle pursuits in response to hig