PIT Maneuver

Law enforcement officers often use a “Pursuit Intervention Technique” (PIT) to bring fleeing suspects to a halt. God also has a PIT maneuver, which brings us to our knees.

One evening a while back in San Bernardino County, California, a car chase began about 6:30 p.m., coming to a conclusion about 90 minutes later.

The suspect in a car theft took off from Chino and led police on a chase that ended in Hawthorne. The erratic and meandering journey took officers to the Ventura Freeway, where the suspect vehicle sideswiped a Prius and nearly hit a tanker truck. After driving in the wrong direction, the thief pulled the car into the southbound lanes of the San Diego Freeway. There, the stolen vehicle was rammed once by a patrol car, but that did not deter this guy.

When he got into the Hawthorne area, having eluded capture for almost an hour and a half, a California Highway Patrol SUV executed a PIT maneuver, and game over. The car went sideways into a spin, and the driver was apprehended.

An increasing number of law enforcement agencies across the country are using the PIT maneuver as a way to bring car chases to safe conclusions. Using this tactic, an...