When pursuing a suspect, officers should consider terminating the chase if continuing would increase risk to bystanders or the public.

• A. This is never allowed.
• B. This is only allowed if the suspect is armed.
• C. This is an appropriate action to reduce risk.
• D. This is required to be approved by the department head.

Answer: (C)

In pursuit decisions, safeguarding the public is the primary concern. If continuing the chase would increase the risk to bystanders or the public, terminating the pursuit is the prudent, appropriate action. High-speed driving, erratic behavior, and loss of control can lead to crashes that endanger innocent people, so stopping the pursuit reduces potential harm while still allowing other safety measures—such as containment, surveillance, or coordinating with other units—to apprehend the suspect through safer means later.

The other options don’t fit because risk drives the decision, not a blanket rule. The pursuit isn’t categorically forbidden; the choice isn’t limited to situations where the suspect is armed, since unarmed suspects can still create dangerous scenarios. Requiring department-head approval may exist in some policies, but the critical point here is that officers should assess risk in the moment and terminate to protect the public when warranted.