It’s exciting. Frankly, it’s almost impossible not to stare as a desperate driver attempts to give police officers the slip Gone in 60 Seconds style. However, more often than not, law enforcement agencies manage to stop fleeing vehicles. In fact, police departments use a myriad of tools to stop suspect vehicles, like spike strips and their infamous bite. 

Police officers use spike strips to immobilize fleeing vehicles by deflating their tires

As the name suggests, tire deflation devices, or “spike strips,” cause a rapid deflation of a vehicle’s tires, typically immobilizing it. That’s just a fancy way of saying an array of spikes shred the target vehicle’s tires. While people typically associate tire deflation devices with police agencies, federal agencies also use these spikes to limit access. 

According to the Joint Intermediate Force Capabilities Office, a spike strip is best defined as “a hand-emplaced, prefabricated strip of materiel with embedded, hollow steel spikes used to impede vehicle progression.” But by any definition, you know it when you see it. More often than not, it’s a foldable, rollable, or otherwise collapsable lineup of spikes that a law enforcement officer (LEO) can deploy quickly to stop a speeding, fleeing vehicle. 

However, like using the PIT maneuver, officers must request permission to deploy a spike strip. After all, a loss of traction could lead to a crash. Worse yet, it could result in a bystander injury. As such, police officers require training on when to use countermeasures like spike strips.

Still, maneuvers where police officers attempt to stop fleeing vehicles using their patrol vehicles carry risk. A tire deflation device is no different. Unfortunately, deploying such a device requires an officer to stand in harm’s way. Tragically, Moody County Chief Deputy Ken Prorok in South Dakota was one of the most recent tire deflation device-related fatalities. Chief Deputy Prorok died in February 2024 after a suspect vehicle struck him, per Keloland Media Group.