The Godsister of an innocent man killed during a police chase wants answers as Fort Worth chief fights to keep pursuit policy private

FORT WORTH, Texas — Fort Worth City Council members are set to vote Tuesday on whether to move forward with a lawsuit against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

It centers around the police chief’s plan to keep part of the police pursuit policy private.

Angelique Sandford is still looking for answers in the police crash death of her best friend and God Brother. 

Andre Craig was an innocent bystander when his car collided with a Fort Worth police SUV last summer that was chasing a stolen car.

“I can’t believe my friend is gone,” said Sandford, “I understand there is a crime, but if y’all going down a residential street. Luckily, Andre was the only person.” 

Because of how Andre Craig lost his life, Sandford wants to know more about Fort Worth PD’s pursuit policy. 

But Police Chief Neil Noakes is fighting to keep parts of their policy hidden from the public. He says it reveals their tactical procedures.

WFAA asked the Fort Worth PD for details of their pursuit policy. They directed us to their General Orders online, where WFAA found the department’s policy is restricted and not available to the public.

To keep it that way the City of Fort Worth filed a lawsuit in Travis County District Court against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who ruled against FWPD for not sharing the pursuit policy after several open records requests from new organizations.

“You try to get the information you can’t,” said Sandford.

In comparison, several other law enforcement agencies in North Texas are transparent about their pursuit policy. For example, The Dallas Police Department has its pursuit policy visible to the public online. 

Other law enforcement agencies like White Settlement, Frisco, Mesquite, and Irving departments don’t hide policy either. 

“Police pursuits are so dangerous that I believe the public has the right to know what our policy is,” said White Settlement Police Chief Chris Cook. “I think it’s best that we are transparent about pursuits.”

Councilman Chris Nettles says he’s undecided on how he will vote on the ratification. Nettles, like several other council members, wants to learn more from law enforcement leaders about why they believe it’s important to restrict pursuit policy practices. 

WFAA TV also reached out to Fort Worth City Mayor Mattie Parker. A spokesperson shared that Mayor Parker does not have a comment at this time due to pending litigation. 

The City of Fort Worth Law Department shared the following response:   

“The release of the entirety of the Fort Worth Police Department’s pursuit policy could interfere with police activities, potentially jeopardizing the lives of police officers, citizens, and other individuals in the city, and this information should be withheld under the Texas Homeland Security Act. This policy includes more detailed, sensitive information in it that other cities’ policies do not include, and it would be detrimental to publicly release this information.”

Still, Sandford wants answers about what went wrong during the police pursuit last summer that took her God-Brother’s life.

“Police, they never to this day now, they never said they we’re sorry or acknowledged it or nothing,” said Sandford.