THE scene is familiar to any fan of heart-pounding action films: police officers radio headquarters that they are in "hot pursuit of the suspect's vehicle." After the blaring sirens and flashing lights are turned off, the scene usually ends with the bad guy in handcuffs and no one the worse for the wear.

That scenario is Hollywood fantasy. Real high-speed police chases can be harrowing events that end in tragedy, with the officers, the suspect and bystanders frequently injured or killed.

New Jersey does not keep statistics on people who are killed or injured in police pursuits; no state does except Minnesota. But Sam Yakich, executive director of the American Automobile Association Foundation for Traffic Study, in Washington, said that more than 300 people were killed and 20,000 injured each year as result of high-speed police pursuits.

"The fact is," he said, "that a majority of the police chases involve relatively minor offenses. I'm afraid too many officers get their image of police chases from the TV, where no one gets hurt." Guidelines Called Too Vague

State Attorney General Robert J. Del Tufo recently appointed a task force to look into the issue of high-speed police pursuits to see if the state guidelines on pursuit can be strengthened. The guidelines were adopted by police departments throughout New Jersey in 1983, but many critics say the guidelines are too vague and leave too much to the discretion of the officers.

The guidelines allow officers to chase only when there is a good chance that a serious crime has been committed, or if the public or the officer is in immediate danger.

Mr. Del Tufo said he was concerned over several recent high-speed police chases that resulted in the deaths of uninvolved third parties, which included these cases:

*A 26-year-old woman was killed in downtown Newark in May when her car collided with a Belleville police vehicle pursuing a driver who had rammed two police cars.

*A 19-year-old unlicensed driver was killed in Elmwood Park in March when the stolen car he was driving while fleeing the police slammed head-on into an auto driven by a Garfield woman. The woman was seriously injured, as were two teen-age passengers in the stolen car.

*A 19-year-old woman died of her injuries in November 1988, when the Seaside Heights police were chasing a man who crashed his car into her vehicle. The chase began when the police spotted a broken headlight on the suspect's car.

"Imagine, a high-speed chase that resulted in the death of a young woman over a broken headlight," said Gerald W. LaCrosse, father of the victim, Desere LaCrosse.

"I just think the police officers should think long and hard before they take off on a high-speed chase which puts innocent people like my daughter in jeopardy," said Mr. LaCrosse, who is a Councilman in Beachwood, a small Ocean County community. He has recently filed a suit in State Superior Court, charging the police with actions contributing to the death of his daughter.

Many police officers, however, are furious that they may face lawsuits for what they perceive as doing their jobs.

Chief Anthony Parenti of the Fanwood Police Department, who is a member of the Attorney General's task force, said he would like to see a detailed report of pursuits so "we can better understand exactly what happens, especially if something goes wrong."

"While I think that the guidelines are a good idea, the police are still in a bind," he said. "Suppose a kid steals a car and goes through a red light, and the police do not pursue that kid. The kid mows down 15 people. Don't you think that that officer will be in a lot of trouble for not pursuing? You bet he will."

Chief Parenti said these questions should be asked in any police chase: Should the chase have been started in the first place? Should it have been stopped somewhere along the line? Was there a supervising officer in charge of the pursuit? And what were the speeds of the police cars and what were the speed zones in the areas of the chase? 'No Need to Chase.'

Some law-enforcement officials agree that high-speed chases are not necessary. "No crook can outrun a radio," said the Paramus Police Chief, Joseph Delaney, "so there is no need to chase a suspect. We can always pick him up in the next town or on the next street."

Chief Delaney said he had strict guidelines for his officers to avoid high-speed chases in "most circumstances."

"I tell my officers," he said, "to use common sense. You don't chase anyone over going through a red light, but if you have a good indication that a felon is speeding away, it is all right to pursue them."

But, Chief Delaney added, the officer must still keep within guidelines that say the chase must be abandoned if it becomes a clear threat to the safety of the officer or to the public. Issue of Police Immunity.

"Police are taught very little about pursuits," said Ann P. McHugh of the Princeton law firm of Pellettieri, Rabstein & Altman, who is representing the estate of John Tice Jr. Mr. Tice, a 17-year-old Wildwood resident, was killed in November 1985 by a motorist being pursued by the police as Mr. Tice was walking home with a friend from a gym.

"I realize that officers must be granted some immunity in doing their job, but the key issue is whether they have absolute immunity in the pursuit of suspected law violators," Ms. McHugh said. She has taken the case to the State Supreme Court, which agreed to hear her appeal to overturn an Appellate Court ruling that shielded the police from civil liability in the Tice death.

Mr. LaCrosse agreed with Ms. McHugh over the immunity issue. "I respect many police officers and the jobs they do," he said, "but we cannot throw a blanket of immunity protecting these police officers involved in chase accidents."

Mr. LaCrosse said that many bystanders were injured or killed each year in New Jersey by vehicles involved in high-speed police chases. He established the Desere Foundation last year in an effort to get laws passed to reduce the number of such chases.

'Deadlier Than a Gun.'

"The pursuit is the cop's most deadly weapon," said Prof. Geoffrey Alpert, a professor of criminal justice at the University of South Carolina. "It is even deadlier than a gun because it is used more often."

Professor Alpert said that recent evidence from a number of states showed that 17 to 45 percent of high-speed police pursuits ended up in property damage, 14 to 23 percent in injuries and up to 3 percent in at least one fatality.

About two-thirds of those killedwere occupants of the pursued vehicles, Mr. Alpert said, and the rest were divided evenly between police officers and bystanders.

"We are still chasing traffic offenders and risking the lives of not only the police officers but also the public," he said. "A police pursuit is more dangerous than the use of a weapon. Some cops never fire their guns, but they chase suspects all the time at high rates of speed."

Mr. Del Tufo said the task force, which is made up of a cross section of law-enforcement officials, would also examine the legal issues and the availability and scope of training that is provided to police officers.

"One of the problems we have encountered in previous efforts to evaluate the risk of high-speed pursuits is the absence of accurate reporting," Mr. Del Tufo said. "We do not know the number of high-speed chases that are undertaken annually in this state or the number of crashes that occur and the number of resulting injuries or fatalities." Informal Survey by State.

Mr. Del Tufo mentioned an informal surveyof about 400 high-speed chases in New Jersey in 1988 and 1989. One hundred five of the 400 chases recorded in the survey, conducted by the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice, resulted in crashes, causing 62 injuries and 10 fatalities.

Wayne S. Fisher, deputy director of the Division of Criminal Justice and the task force chairman, said other states' guidelines were being examined. Topics being studied include the use of force, the interjurisdictional roles of the police, the initiation of pursuits and the tactics and results of such pursuits.

"While the existing guidelines will be thoroughly reviewed to determine modifications needed to be made in our statewide high-speed pursuit policy, the problem we are confronting is largely a risk management issue," Mr. Fisher said.

"There is no totally safe way of engaging in a high-speed chase," he said. "We can, however, see that additional steps are taken to insure that these chases are undertaken with maximum precaution, recognizing the need for a police officer to enforce the law."

Mr. Del Tufo also said the task force would study the incidence of motor vehicle thefts and their connection with high-speed chases.

The group will report its findings to Mr. Del Tufo within the next few months, but no deadline has been set. Chris Florentz, spokesman for Mr. Del Tufo, said that the current guidelines were inadequate and there was a strong chance that they would be strengthened by the group's recommendations. 'Bad Guys Will Drive Away.'

Some police officers say that as soon as a restricted-chase policy is adopted, the only people who will benefit are the suspects. "The bad guys will just drive away unpunished," said Lieut. Robert Bonfante of the Old Bridge Police Department. "Is that what the public really wants?"

But Lieutenant Bonfante said he could understand the problem of high-speed police chases. "I was gung-ho myself once and wanted to chase first and think later," he said. "I think new guidelines are a good idea. It helps the police and the public too.

"But you have to understand that when an officer sees a car fleeing, he has to ask himself, 'Why is that person running? Is he a burglar or worse, a murderer?' " Anger Over Criticism."

The Orange Police Director, Charles Cobbertt, is angry that the police are receiving criticism for trying to do their job. "The public should tell us what to do," Mr. Cobbertt said. "Should we chase or let the criminal go free? The police are in the middle."

Cape May's Police Chief, Robert Boyd, who supervises 17 officers in a town whose population in the summer swells to 40,000 from 5,000, said police pursuits should almost never be undertaken at high speeds. 'Consequences Are Too Great.'

"The consequences are too great that someone may be killed or badly injured," Chief Boyd said. "The police usually can trap the person in the next town or by just following but not pursuing."

Chief Boyd lauded the State Police, who recently allowed a speeding vehicle to exit the Garden State Parkway without incident and then trapped the driver on a dead-end street in Cape May.

"They could have chased him on the parkway and forced him to go even faster, perhaps, but the State Police simply followed him and arrested him when he couldn't go anywhere in town," Chief Boyd said. He said that it turned out that the suspect was not a criminal but a disturbed man with family problems.

"But he could have been killed or injured," Chief Boyd said, "and so could the police officers if they had engaged in a high-speed chase."

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“Reach Back with One Hand and Pull Someone Else Up With You.”

– Charles C. Cobbertt

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