Mayor rescinds 'no-chase' policy

COLUMBIA -- The mayor of a small South Carolina town said she's allowing her police officers to run after suspects again, three weeks after banning the pursuits.

Wellford Mayor Sallie Peake said she's revoking her Sept. 2 prohibition, though she still prefers no chases, after talking with Spartanburg County prosecutor Trey Gowdy.

"They can run, jump, climb trees, tumble, whatever they want to do!" Peake told a WSPA-TV reporter Thursday.

On Monday, the mayor of 14 years said she issued the order after a city officer suffered a foot injury while chasing a "guy who had some crack on him" and had to be out of work for several days on workers' compensation pay. Noting the suspect wasn't stealing or breaking into a home at the time, she said she didn't consider the drug possession a crime, and said the town of 2,100 couldn't afford the increased insurance costs. Though the ban applied only to foot chases, she said officers also totaled two town- issued cars in a month.

"There are to be no more foot chases when a suspect runs. I do not want anyone chasing any suspects whatsoever," read the two-sentence memo.

Gowdy sent a letter Wednesday to state Attorney General Henry McMaster, asking for an opinion on whether the policy violates officers' duties to uphold the law.

Peake received a copy, along with a separate letter asking her to rescind the policy. If workers compensation rates were the concern, Gowdy said, he and Sheriff Chuck Wright would help the town raise the money to fully cover the officers.