TAMPA - Tampa police pursuits took a serious drop in 2004, down to 70 from 95 in 2003, and pursuit-related injuries dropped from 19 in 2003 to 17 in 2004.

Police Chief Steven Hogue attributed the drop in pursuits to a decline in the city's crime rate and said the department will continue to review its pursuit policy in light of a radical shift in the Orlando Police Department's pursuit strategy.

``We review our policy all the time,'' Hogue said. ``But I wouldn't anticipate it being much more restrictive than TPD's policy is. We have, through many years, learned that that policy is a good policy.''

The department's policy allows officers to chase a vehicle when someone in the vehicle is thought to have committed ``any felony involving violence or the threat of violence,'' burglary, auto theft or felony firearm offenses.

By comparison, the St. Petersburg Police Department, which had 19 chases in 2004, allows officers to pursue only when ``necessary to apprehend a violent felon and, then, only when the need to apprehend clearly outweighs the risks to the public, officers and suspect.''

In 2004, Orlando revamped its restrictive policy, specifying that officers stop, turn around and drive away to end a chase when the suspect's vehicle flees. Police administrators there say the results have been good. Orlando officers pursued only 11 vehicles in 2004.

Although Hogue acknowledged that policy ``has merit'' because it reduces the liability of pursuing officers should a crash occur, he said not pursuing suspects could lead to more crime.

``You cannot pursue,'' he said, ``but there's a downside to that. The criminals are going to run amok in your town, and there's probably going to be more people hurt by them if you don't run after people and chase them down and catch them.''

Statistics show police pursuits are dangerous.

Across the country, two in five pursuits end in crashes, and one in five ends in injury. One in 100 end in death, according to Jim Phillips, who runs www.pursuitwatch.org, a group that lobbies for stricter policies.

About 350 people, many of them bystanders, are killed every year during police pursuits.

That number will change only if departments revise policies and provide pursuit training to officers, said Capt. Travis Yates, a law enforcement driving instructor with the Tulsa Police Department in Oklahoma who runs www.policedriving.com.

``A decade ago, it was chase 'em until the wheels fell off,'' he said. ``I think what we've seen now is the law enforcement profession trying to come to grips with the fact that we do need to do something different.''

Yates said many departments offer driving instruction and have pursuit policies on the books.

In Tampa, about half of the department's 1,000 sworn officers have completed the pursuit policy training this year, department spokeswoman Laura McElroy said, and the remaining officers will be trained by the end of the year. Of those who have been trained, three or four did not pass the written test or driving test and were ordered to continue training until they passed.

The training is part of a driving course that covers maneuvers used to force a car to stop and rolling roadblocks, she said. Officers receive the training when they join the force and every other year. They get additional training if they are at fault in an accident.

New Channel 8 reporter Keith Cate contributed to this report. Reporter Ben Montgomery can be reached at (813) 259-7638.