Atlanta chief fine-tunes the department's 'no pursuit' policy

ATLANTA - The Atlanta police chief fine-tuned her order to police officers not to engage in vehicle chases with suspects. 

In the wake of recent deaths in which fleeing suspects crashed into innocent motorists, Erika Shields issued a memo to all her officers telling them the pursuits were being suspended. 

"It's just too great, the liability," Shields told members of the council public safety committee. 

But Atlanta will continue to ask the Georgia State Patrol, whose troopers are highly trained in pursuit driving, to assist APD. 

All the same, Shields issued a directive to her commanders in a meeting on Monday. She told them to not ask troopers to come out for crimes such as a stolen car. 

The chief wants requests to the state agency to be for severe crimes.