Before, officers had been given wider discretion on whether to terminate a chase.

Chief James E. Turley said a separate proposal is under review by city lawyers that would restrict officers from firing at cars unless someone in the vehicle was trying to kill them by using something "other than the car," authorities said.

That policy, if adopted, would mirror a long-standing directive used by State Police.

The gunfire issue came into focus last December, when a bystander was killed by an officer's errant bullet as he fired nine shots at a fleeing suspect's vehicle on a busy downtown street. The officer later told authorities he fired at the car in fear for his life as it drove toward him. But witnesses and police reports indicate that he and a second officer appeared to aim at the car's tires in an effort to disable it, and to fire some shots as the car sped away.

As a result of that incident, police officials said, the policy being proposed would prohibit officers from using guns to try to disable vehicles.

The policy adopted by the State Police more than 10 years ago instructs troopers to "not discharge a firearm from or at a moving vehicle or its occupants unless the occupants of the other vehicle are using deadly physical force against you or another person by means other than the vehicle."

In the meantime, city police in Albany have received in-service training over the past month on the stricter guidelines governing vehicle pursuits.

Under the new rules, officers are required to weigh several factors before and during a vehicle pursuit. They include the "seriousness of the offense," their ability to catch the suspect at a later time, and the potential for harm to the public or property during a high-speed chase.

In addition, pursuits are now prohibited if the risk posed by the chase "outweighs the potential harm threatened by the escape of the suspect," the policy states.

A new form also must be filled out by officers following a chase. The report will help department officials monitor pursuits and collect data on issues such as road conditions during chases, pedestrian traffic, the number of officers involved and the reason a pursuit was terminated.

The changes to the Standard Operating Procedures manual were ordered Sept. 27 by Turley, according to an internal memo he issued to supervisors. But Turley cautioned that policies can't cover everything an officer may encounter on the street.

"An SOP is a guide for the best circumstances; it doesn't cover all circumstances," Turley said. "My goal was to make the officer constantly re-evaluate the pursuit and the factors involved."

Still, city police already routinely terminate chases. That happened this week when officers chased a driver who was in a car that had been reported stolen. The man drove out of the city and north onto Interstate 787, with Albany police abandoning their pursuit as the suspect drove across a bridge into Troy. They notified Troy police, and the man was captured a short time later.

Police departments around the region routinely take part in high-speed pursuits, and many departments do not have policies that are as restrictive as Albany's. But police chases have been a hot-button issue in the city following the shooting death of David Scaringe last New Year's Eve and another chase last spring that left a West Hill woman injured after the suspect's stolen car slammed into her vehicle.

On Aug. 29, the issue struck a nerve with Mayor Jerry Jennings when at least a half-dozen police cruisers blew past his car as they chased a stolen van across the city and into Thacher Park and back.

Internal affairs detectives are still reviewing the circumstances of that 42-minute pursuit, which involved at least eight police cars, including an unmarked unit. The pursuit riled the mayor because the department's long-standing pursuit policy does not allow more than two police cars in a chase. The policy also prohibits unmarked detective units from taking part.

City police leaders pledged in May to begin tracking their pursuits after an ex-convict led police on a high-speed chase across West Hill. It ended when the suspect crashed a stolen car into another vehicle, injuring its driver. Minutes before the crash, which took place as the suspect sped the wrong way on a one-way street, he jumped a curb and nearly hit two pedestrians as officers gave chase.

That incident followed a grand jury ruling that cleared two officers of criminal charges in connection with the New Year's Eve death of Scaringe, 24.

Before the shooting, suspect Daniel Reed, who is serving a six-month jail sentence for charges that include reckless endangerment and DWI, drove onto a sidewalk when his path was blocked by a police cruiser.

The department's policy prohibits officers from using their cruisers to set up roadblocks. At the time, the manual also instructed officers to terminate pursuits if they endanger the public, but Turley said those instructions have been made more clear under the recent policy changes.