CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Corpus Christi Police Department Capt. Timothy Frazier said that when it comes to dealing with wrong-way drivers, pursuit can become a little tricky.
"We will never ever go the wrong way as well, because now you're putting two vehicles going the wrong way on the highway," he said.
Frazier said CCPD begins with what it calls a 'code run'. The code involves running lights and a siren.
"When we get the call, of course, the officers are trying to get detailed information as to where, because there's usually a little bit of lag," he said.
Frazier added that officers will drive parallel to the wrong way driver.
"We'll be on the right side of the roadway while they're on the wrong side of the roadway," he said. "And what the other officers are going to be doing is trying to alert people up ahead."
To avoid unnecessary casualties, Frazier said they'll get drivers to move to avoid a head-on collision. He added that the other objective is to get the attention of the wrong-way driver, adding that the strategy has been effective.
"We don't do PIT maneuvers, we don't put out spike strips, because this can cause other issues," he said. "If you throw out some spike strips, you can be spiking other vehicles."
Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Sgt. Guadalupe Casarez said that, depending on the severity of the situation, they will use more aggressive measures.
"We can also deploy a tire deflation device to disable the vehicles tires, or we can also perform a PIT maneuver," he said. "Obviously, all these actions want to make sure that every single driver is safe."
Casarez wants to remind residents that it's not always an intoxicated driver who's driving the wrong way.
"It can be a person that's impaired, can be somebody that's that's short term memory loss. Or somebody's just not part of the area. It's everything all these factors can play a role," he said.
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