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<!-- [[Image:pit maneuver.svg|thumb|right|Outline of the stages of the PIT maneuver; the target is in front of the police car.]] -->
[[File:California_Highway_Patrol_ending_pursuit_with_PIT_on_I-80.jpg|thumb|[[California Highway Patrol]] cruisers using a PIT maneuver to disable a fleeing vehicle]]
The '''PIT maneuver''' ('''precision immobilization technique'''<ref name=":0">Raviv, Shaun, and John Sullivan, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/investigations/pit-maneuver-police-deaths/ "Police driving maneuver used to end chases has killed 30 people since 2016, The Post finds"], ''Washington Post'', August 24, 2020. Retrieved 2020-08-24.</ref>), also known as '''TVI''' ('''tactical vehicle intervention'''), is a law enforcement [[Car chase|pursuit]] tactic in which a pursuing vehicle forces another vehicle to turn sideways abruptly, causing the driver to lose control and stop.<ref name="GACP1">{{cite web |title=Law Enforcement Pursuits in Georgia: Review and Recommendations |url=https://gachiefs.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Pursuit-Committee-Recommendations-Report.pdf |website=Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police |access-date=2021-06-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314133247/http://www.gachiefs.com/pdfs/Pursuit%20Committee%20Recommendations%20Report.pdf |archive-date=2016-03-14 |date=2006-08-08 |url-status=live}}{{cbignore}}</ref> It was developed by BSR Inc. and first used by the [[Fairfax County Police Department]] in [[Virginia]], United States, in 1988.<ref name=GACP1 />
My name is Eric James Morris of Athens, Georgia. I graduated from Tift County High School in Tifton, Georgia in 1991.
I invented the PIT Maneuver.
The PIT Maneuver is the "PURSUIT INTERVENTION TECHNIQUE". It has been the "Pursuit Intervention Technique" for 32 years. They just started incorrectly calling it the "Precision Immobilization Technique" sometime in the last 3 years while I was incarcerated in the Federal prison system. The words "Precision Immobilization Technique" SHOULD NEVER BE USED! A properly performed PIT Maneuver does not immobilize the fleeing vehicle. The "Precision Immobilization Technique" is the proper placement of stop sticks. Stop sticks IMMOBILIZE a vehicle.
I invented the PIT Maneuver as a cadet at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia on Wednesday May 27, 1992. 1992 was the last year the FBI Academy was held only once a year. The entire Class of 1992 became undercover FBI Agents - but the participants in the creation of the PIT Maneuver were aware that the story would be released to the news media in 30 years when they were no longer considered fully undercover, and they were told to prepare their friends and families ahead of time for the news that they are actually FBI Agents.
This story should have been released to the news media 2 and a half years ago. I don't know why it hasn't been. If you have had any criminal dealings with any of the individuals named and they have never arrested you, THEY NEVER WILL. Besides, undercover FBI Agents do not do drug enforcement. Most use drugs or sell drugs, and you have nothing to worry about. In fact, you can take comfort in the fact that you have protection from a Federal Agent. I was not able to ask permission to publish their names because they refuse to accept my Friend Requests. But then again, the Washington Post and CNN aren't going to ask their permission either.
The PIT Maneuver was invented during a mock pursuit where the instructor was cheating. Cadets were practicing the "Box and Stop" method of bringing vehicle pursuits to a conclusion. The "Box and Stop" typically involves three vehicles - one in the front, one in the rear, and one on the side, with the shoulder of the road on the other side of the fleeing vehicle.
The lead vehicle was driven by Cadet Britt Bradley of Madison County, Georgia with his bunkmate and driving partner Brian Charles Rutherford of Little Rock, Arkansas in the passenger seat. The side vehicle was driven by me, with my bunkmate and driving partner Kenneth Randall Farmer of Dayton, Ohio in the passenger seat, and the rear vehicle was driven by Cadet Benjamin Banes, Jr. of Athens, Georgia with his bunkmate and driving partner Jill Mendoza-Benitez of Athens, Georgia in the passenger seat.
The instructors were not to exceed 55 mph. They were to allow themselves to be boxed in and brought to a stop so we could practice coordinated braking. We were driving Ford Broncos communicating with CB radios and the instructor was driving a Ford LTD. The instructor in our pursuit kept exceeding the maximum speed for the exercise, and breaking free of our box formation every time Britt attempted to close in, so I bet Ken that I could "tap (the instructor) on his quarter panel and make him spin out". I radioed Britt and told him the next time he does that, to get clear as fast as he could, because I had something I wanted to try. It worked surprisingly well. We all stopped our vehicles and drew down on the instructor with our imaginary weapons, yelling "FBI! Get out with your HANDS UP! Britt doesn't think he deserves being mentioned because he was in front of the action, but he is being mentioned because the lead vehicle is the MOST IMPORTANT position in the "Box and Stop". The lead vehicle controls the entire pace for the stop.
The first PIT Maneuver was performed at 55 mph. But that was quickly determined to be too fast a speed to safely perform the manuever as the instructor almost overturned. It was determined that 45 mph would be a much safer speed. The PIT Maneuver was never practiced again at the FBI Academy, though.
The PIT Maneuver was was named later that evening during a brainstorming session involving the cadets that participated in the mock pursuit. Several acronyms were considered and discarded, including the Pursuit Ending Technique, which was discarded because the PET Maneuver sounded like we were talking about animals or sex. Finally, Cadet David Morrison came up with the words Pursuit Intervention Technique. We voted to accept that as the official title. Ken Farmer and I were excused early Friday May 29, 1992 to go to the Washington D.C. Metro Police Department to inform officers of our discovery., in 1988.<ref name=GACP1 />
==Procedure==
==Controversy==
While some police departments in the [[United States]] consider the PIT maneuver as an intermediate force option that can end a pursuit, others{{Which|date=August 2024}}, like the state of Illinois, consider "forcible stop techniques" to be "use of deadly force" if performed at high speeds (above 20 mph).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board Police Pursuit Guidelines |url=https://www.ptb.illinois.gov/media/1448/policepursuitguidelines.pdf |website=Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board}}</ref>
Police pursuit policies in general — and the PIT maneuver specifically — are controversial because of risk of injury or death to both involved and uninvolved.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Lauer |first=Claudia |date=September 19, 2023 |title=New report recommends limiting police pursuits to violent crimes after rise in fatalities |url=https://apnews.com/article/police-vehicle-chase-pursuit-deaths-policy-ed2fe37280cec57e4377491348cc661d |website=Associated Press}}</ref> The PIT maneuver has been linked to at least 30 fatalities between 2016 and 2020.<ref name=":0" /> Of those fatalities, 18 occurred when officers attempted to stop motorists for minor traffic violations.<ref name=":0" /> Many police departments have placed regulations to limit the potential risks of the PIT maneuver and limit its use to serious situations, including pursuit of drivers with outstanding warrants or who are considered likely to be dangerous for other reasons.{{cn|date=March 2024}}
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