HOUSTON -- A change to the Houston Police Department's chase policy now prohibits officers from pursuing minor offenders, KPRC Local 2 reported Wednesday.

The new policy prevents officers from chasing people for minor traffic violations such as running a red light or speeding.

"A supervisor will terminate a pursuit unless the suspect has committed or is committing a class B misdemeanor or a higher violation, or a suspect is a known felon," the new policy states.

Under the new regulations, officers should only follow behind class C misdemeanor suspects long enough to obtain information about the vehicle in order to get an arrest warrant.

Houston police officers will still be allowed to chase drivers suspected of drunken driving or vehicles that were reported stolen.

The Houston Police Officer's Union said the new policy hinders the officers' ability to do their jobs and sends the wrong message to criminals.

"If the department was concerned about public safety, they would say, 'No chases,'" HPOU President Hans Marticiuc said. "What they're concerned about is they know we have to try to function and do our job. What they're concerned about is liability, so you've got a bunch of lawyers and politically appointed administrators making decisions for practitioners.

"As far as we're concerned, this is just another policy that's going to handcuff us from doing our job," he said. "It's a clear message to officers from the department -- they don't want you to be involved in vehicle pursuits. And I'm going to encourage officers not to be involved in vehicle pursuits until this policy's changed."

Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt said the new policy is designed to protect police and the public from dangerous and potentially dangerous pursuits.

"We're not giving people a pass," Hurtt said.

Officers will now focus more on chasing someone suspected of committing a felony.

"We're not handcuffing our officers. We're looking out for the safety of the public as far as being able to arrest people, as well as determining when to initiate a pursuit and also to terminate a pursuit," Hurtt said.

The new policy is drawing mixed reaction from city leaders.

"It is a reasonable policy that (police) could continue to pursue vehicles," Houston Mayor Bill White said.

"When I was a street cop, I was just adamant about being given the authority to pursue individuals that were violating the law," said council member Adrian Garcia, a former police officer.

Houston police officials said that officers will be able to follow up with enforcement action for minor offenders if they are able to obtain necessary vehicle information and a description of the violator.