PIT Maneuver - History

History

The PIT was originally popularized in the 1970s by BSR Incorporated, an advanced driver training school in Summit Point, West Virginia. Tom Milner, a BSR co-owner at the time, brought the technique from Germany, where it was in use by the German police. The technique was translated from a German book titled The Hunter and the Hunted. PIT gained popularity during the 1990s, and the technique was refined so as to reduce the violent ramming called for by earlier variations. A variation was already in use by the United States Secret Service since 1965 for VIP protection during motorcades.

The PIT maneuver was adapted from stock car racing, where drivers would bump a competitor to take them out, giving rise to the term, "takeout". This maneuver is illegal in stock car racing because it is very dangerous. The high speed involved in auto racing makes it much easier for drivers to take out another car with a less substantial bump than at lower speeds. When employing the PIT maneuver, the speed of the two cars involved will determine how far the car will travel once it is bumped. Partially for this reason, the higher the speed, the more unpredictable and dangerous the PIT maneuver becomes. This is just one of the very important factors a police officer must consider before implementing the PIT maneuver. A police officer is trained to wait until conditions are right before attempting a PIT maneuver to avoid the use of deadly force. Speeds must be lower and the "landing site" for the bumped vehicle must be clear of danger.

The bump and run technique used in auto racing is strongly related to the police PIT maneuver and may predate it.

The first US law enforcement agency to teach PIT as a technique to halt fleeing vehicles was the Fairfax County Police Department in Virginia, which modified the parameters for initiating and executing the technique for police use. Terry Pearson and Joseph McDowell were the first law enforcement officers to incorporate the technique into training. Terry Pearson named it the "Precision Immobilization Technique" or P.I.T.

Police departments throughout the United States including the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department in California have come to believe that, when executed properly, PIT is an intermediate force option that can safely end a pursuit. Police vehicles often have reinforced front bumpers to support this technique.