LAS VEGAS — Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill modified the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department’s vehicle pursuit policy. The policy update allows officers to pursue drivers suspected of driving under the influence, operating stolen vehicles, or those identified as major case protocol subjects involved in extensive police investigations.

Supervisors will decide whether to initiate a pursuit on a case-by-case basis under the new directive. These supervisors will factor in dangers to the public, road conditions, weather, and the availability of technology to track fleeing motorists when making their decisions.

"If we just let them go constantly, they are going to continue to commit crime in our community," McMahill said. "I am trying to bring more responsibility into how we manage and conduct pursuits while also going out and getting the individuals preying on people within our community."

The policy change incorporates the use of drones, helicopters, and a device known as the Grappler. The Grappler is a police immobilization device that snags the wheels of fleeing vehicles.

Metro released a report documenting the department’s use of force and vehicle pursuit numbers from 2021 to 2025. The Metro report stated that pursuits are hazardous and will only be authorized for a violent felony offense or if the suspect presents a clear and present danger to the public. Metro carried out 60 vehicle pursuits in 2025.

The 60 vehicle pursuits in 2025 were slightly less than the five-year average of 64. Vehicle pursuits were initiated for felony offenses 90 percent of the time in 2025.

A San Francisco Chronicle report found more than 3,300 people were killed in police pursuits in the United States from 2017 to 2022. A woman was seriously injured in North Las Vegas after police briefly followed a reckless-driving suspect. The suspect in the North Las Vegas incident was a juvenile.

The juvenile suspect's vehicle collided with a female motorist and caused her serious injuries after police stopped following the vehicle. Metro and North Las Vegas police ended a pursuit of a man who had stolen a bus and was driving recklessly. The suspect in the bus theft continued driving recklessly after the pursuit ended and killed a motorcyclist.

A police pursuit of a carjacking suspect in Las Vegas ended with a woman being seriously injured in 2018. A woman was killed during a police chase in Kingman, Arizona, in 2014. A Metro officer was acquitted by a jury of all charges stemming from a fatal crash during a police pursuit in Las Vegas in 2012.

Six people were killed and seven were injured during a police chase in Arizona in 2015. The Henderson Police Department allows vehicle pursuits when there is reasonable suspicion a felony has occurred and the danger posed by the suspect’s escape outweighs the risk to the public.