The forced changes prompted Jimenez to equip his patrol cars with new technology to help nab motorists who try to outrun police.
While dozens of arrests have been made using the GPS technology, overall arrests in the city have fallen more than 30 percent since the change.
“It’s an indictment on St. Ann police and their priorities that the voice of their insurers spoke louder than human lives,” Chasnoff said.
The insurer’s demands for St. Ann police also affected departments beyond this blue-collar town of about 13,000 people.
The city is just one of a dozen in the St. Louis risk pool, which has required each city to overhaul its police pursuit policy.
There is no public data tracking how many police departments have made policy changes at the behest of their insurers.
Because of increased demand from troubled departments for its services, the California group has begun offering coverage nationwide. »
