The Houston police department adopted a judgmental and management strategy in which individual officers were provided with information about the risks involved in hot pursuit and were required to consider those factors before deciding to engage in a pursuit. While the policy did not explicitly discourage police from engaging in pursuits, its effect was a significant reduction in the number of incidents of hot pursuit. During the two periods studied here, the incidence of reported pursuits dropped by 40 percent. Under this type of policy, officers may reduce their efforts to chase suspects except under ideal circumstances, thereby eliminating many unnecessary pursuits in which the risks outweigh the benefits. Nonetheless, law enforcement personnel retain their discretion to pursue. 1 figure and 4 references