Cite as: 523 U. S. 833 (1998)
Opinion of the Court
sion justifies the pursuit under existing conditions. Yet Smith apparently only 'needed' to apprehend the boys because they refused to stop. The General Order requires an officer to consider whether the pursuit presents unreasonable hazards to life and property. But taking the facts here in the light most favorable to plaintiffs, there existed an unreasonable hazard to Lewis's and Willard's lives. The General Order also directs an officer to discontinue a pursuit when the hazards of continuing outweigh the benefits of immediate apprehension. But here, there was no apparent danger involved in permitting the boys to escape. There certainly was risk of harm to others in continuing the pursuit." Id., at 442.
Accordingly, the Court of Appeals reversed the summary judgment in favor of Smith and remanded for trial.
We granted certiorari, 520 U. S. 1250 (1997), to resolve a conflict among the Circuits over the standard of culpability on the part of a law enforcement officer for violating substantive due process in a pursuit case. Compare 98 F. 3d, at 441 ("deliberate indifference" or "reckless disregard"),3 with Evans v. Avery, 100 F. 3d 1033, 1038 (CA1 1996) ("shocks the conscience"), cert. denied, 520 U. S. 1210 (1997); Williams v. Denver, 99 F. 3d 1009, 1014-1015 (CA10 1996) (same); Fagan v. Vineland, 22 F. 3d 1296, 1306-1307 (CA3 1994) (en banc) (same); Temkin v. Frederick County Commissioners, 945
3 In Jones v. Sherrill, 827 F. 2d 1102, 1106 (1987), the Sixth Circuit adopted a "gross negligence" standard for imposing liability for harm caused by police pursuit. Subsequently, in Foy v. Berea, 58 F. 3d 227, 230 (1995), the Sixth Circuit, without specifically mentioning Jones, disavowed the notion that "gross negligence is sufficient to support a substantive due process claim." Although Foy involved police inaction, rather than police pursuit, it seems likely that the Sixth Circuit would now apply the "deliberate indifference" standard utilized in that case, see 58 F. 3d, at 232-233, rather than the "gross negligence" standard adopted in Jones, in a police pursuit situation.
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