Police pursuits: should they or should they not occur?

[Cerek the Barbaric]

Originally posted by Faceman: On the other hand, I'm completely for lightening up the police chases as long as it is ensured, that the culprit gets caught. Helicopters, lowjack-guns,... should assist in that. Just remember, that in the wrong hands a car can be a weapon and you sure wouldn't want an armed criminal on the loose.

You're right about the car being a weapon, Faceman, and that is the central issue to this whole topic. Because the one way to absolutely garauntee that the car will become a "weapon" (whether intentionally or not) is for the police to chase it.

The driver will then speed up to get away. They will swerve in and out of traffic, slide through corners, and charge through intersections. I've even seen video of cars driving up on the sidewalk and almost hitting pedestrians during a police chase.

The bottom line is that the driver of the vehicle will start speeding and attempting manuevers that he/she is not trained to do (unlike the police). They are gonna try some crazy stunt driving at high speeds and the only thing you can count on then is that SOMEBODY is gonna get hurt when the driver inevitably loses control of the vehicle.

I love to watch the show Scariest Police Chases. It amazes me what some people will do when they get behind the wheel of a car. I saw one video where a drunk driver lost control on the highway and swerved into a tractor trailer with enough force to cause it to jackknife. This led to a multi-car collision with numerous injuries of other drivers and passengers (none serious, thankfully). And the driver wasn't going that fast. His estimated speed was less than 70mph at the time.

Of course, the comment about the police being "gung ho" is true also. MANY cities in the U.S. are beginning to review their high-speed pursuit policies also, because of incidents similar to the one posted by Memnoch. On the nightly news a few months ago, officials in Atlanta, GA said they were reviewing their policy after a chase that resembled the infamous O.J. Simpson chase with the white Bronco. Video of the chase showed a single car driving down the highway, but not at an outrageous speed (again, the driver was going around 70-75mph). It was late at night (or early in the morning), so there weren't any other cars on the highway....EXCEPT for the police cars in pursuit. In the video, there were about 20-25 police cars pursuing this one vehicle. Everybody from the State Highway Patrol (who had primary jurisdiction) down to local sheriff and police departments (who did NOT have jurisdiction and couldn't have even made the arrest if they had pulled him over). There were so many cars, that about 3/4 of them couldn't even possibly have gotten near the pursuit vehicle...yet there they were, joining the chase anyway.

It is a very difficult decision for the police to make, and the death of an innocent child adds a lot of extra emotion to the equation. In the end, the police have to decide if it is better to let the perp escape this time (and hope he is NOT a violent or repeat offender), or do they endanger innocent lives in order to stop the crook at all costs.

One thing I can tell you is that, after watching all those police chases on TV, I NEVER go through an intersection without checking both ways first...even if *I* have the green light. I've seen too many accidents on the police videos caused by some idiot barreling right through a red light and hitting cars going the other way. So I always look both ways before pulling out through an intersection.

[Rokenn]

Originally posted by Cerek the Barbaric: It is a very difficult decision for the police to make, and the death of an innocent child adds a lot of extra emotion to the equation. In the end, the police have to decide if it is better to let the perp escape this time (and hope he is NOT a violent or repeat offender), or do they endanger innocent lives in order to stop the crook at all costs.

And the first time a perp they let get away do to a no-chase policy kills someone, the public will cry out for catch em at any cost. Either way they are looking at the possibility of lives lost.

[Cerek the Barbaric]

Originally posted by Rokenn: quote: Originally posted by Cerek the Barbaric: It is a very difficult decision for the police to make, and the death of an innocent child adds a lot of extra emotion to the equation. In the end, the police have to decide if it is better to let the perp escape this time (and hope he is NOT a violent or repeat offender), or do they endanger innocent lives in order to stop the crook at all costs.

And the first time a perp they let get away do to a no-chase policy kills someone, the public will cry out for catch em at any cost. Either way they are looking at the possibility of lives lost. [/QUOTE]You're exactly right, Rokenn. The police are truly in a "No Win" situation.