Why doesn’t Texas law regulate police chases? State lawmakers, experts explain

Texas and other big states might be too geographically diverse for a one-size-fits-all approach to pursuits, said Jillian Snider, criminal justice and civil liberties policy director at the R Street Institute. Police officers aren’t trained the same way from department to department either, which would complicate the creation of statewide pursuit rules, she said.

States like Connecticut that do pass pursuit legislation keep it broad for a reason, she said.

“To be able to tell every agency, ‘this is the policy that you need to operate within,’ it’s just impractical because each agency has their own needs,” Snider said.