Car chases should be outlawed!

[Joanne98]

We used to talk about this but so much goes on. It looks like the Dallas police just got someone killed.

Time to rehash WHY.

Most people who run are just petty criminals who panic. They can be followed with a helicopter and grabbed later. There is no reason for dramatic TV chases except the commercial whore media likes them and the cops get to act like bad asses on TV.

The media shouldn't have shown this anyway because we have protests in Iran, a coup in Honduras, health care, energy and unemployment still rising.

Media reform is critical. They are never going to do what's in the interest of the country unless they're forced to.......

Here are listings for media reform events........

http://www.freepress.net/resources/event_listing

[dugaresa]

1. i always thought that the police will stop a chase if they are in danger of

hurting people? Is it not up to the individual officer to determine whether he/she should stop the chase and let the criminal go?

[Echo In Light]

4. I've seen countless examples to the contrary. What's supposed to happen vs what actually does...

...differs greatly in our country

[WeDidIt]

2. My wife just watched one on MSNBC

She had to call me in tears saying she believed she just saw somebody die on national television because the car being chased was T-boned by a truck and smashed into thousands of pieces.

She cannot see how the guy driving could have survived.

[cherokeeprogressive]

5. Fire and Rescue is working to remove the person from the car right now.

I don't think they'd be working that hard and so quickly if the driver were dead. They just cut the door off with the jaws of life.

Live on Fox. Tell your wife she didn't see anyone die, yet.

[av8rdave]

8. Here in the pilot lounge, it's being covered in Fox News. Now I want to watch and

see how they make it Obama's fault.

[cherokeeprogressive]

12. LOL. n/t

[cherokeeprogressive]

9. You can call your wife and soothe her feelings. Dude wasn't dead.

He was moving when they took him to the ambulance on a stretcher. He was moving his upper torso and arms anyway.

[WeDidIt]

13. Thanks, I did.

She feels much better.

[TrogL]

3. Current thinking is "discontinue if it gets dangerous"

I agree coverage of it reminds me of watching the lions at the Coliseum

[cbdo2007]

6. Yes, let's arrest all the criminals leading the cops on these high speed chases immediately!!!

[Liberal In Texas]

7. Car chases are lazy journalism. And they still do it because people are fascinated by it.

A car chase is an executive producer's wet dream.

[Captain Hilts]

10. Because those who instigate car chases are usually in trouble for something serious.

[superduperfarleft]

17. Like a suspended license....

OH NOEZ!!!!111

[Captain Hilts]

21. That's what you get pulled over for. It's usually the iceberg of what you instigate the chase over.

[RaleighNCDUer]

19. Like purse snatching, or having an open beer.

Most chases are NOT with serious criminals - just dumb shits. Don't know the actual stats, but I'd be surprised in more than 10% involved felonies.

Don't you ever watch 'Wildest Police Chases' and that crap? The common explanations: "I didn't have my license, and was afraid I'd get in trouble", "I dunno", "He had a bag of marijuana", etc.

[endless october]

11. car chases for traffic violations should be outlawed at least.

not worth the danger. get the damned plate number and track the car after the fact.

[dmallind]

22. What? And stop getting so much revenue from DUI stops? NT

[liberal N proud]

14. We have hours of TV programing weekly devoted to these things

Court or TRU TV air hour after hour of scenes where police are chasing someone.

[Cleita]

15. I think so to. They endanger innocent people. The suspect they are pursuing

can always be picked up later. By that time they have enough information to find them once their guard is down. Most of them will go to a neighborhood and place that is familiar to them.

[Happy Vic]

16. Let's play run and chase.. dead innocents all over the place...

Police should be Drafted... 31 and over..They must have lived life worked some crappy job with a sphincter muscle boss.. The person should have been, fired unjustly, been hungry, had their significant other dump them for no reason. At least seen first hand what drug or alcohol abuse does to someone close. Had their asses kicked and be able to explain why they deserved it..

Oh and no one from the Armed Forces Specifically the Army or Marines should ever become a Peace Officer. Why? It is too far a step down for those who truly put their lives on the line and die even in "peacetime" at a rate of approx 3000 per year. At least till things truly change. They should protected from associating themselves with Walter Mittys, Bullies, Thugs with Guns and Badges.. Warrior Wannabees. We should find them jobs where they can make an honest and good living at professions that calm their spirits... We owe them that much...

[Nailzberg]

18. NOOOOO! It beats daytime TV.

[MazeRat7]

20. If the media didn't cover it, the chases would contine anyway....

Its mostly an "authority" thing in the mindset of law enforcement. Yes they have a general rule to break off when the danger factor gets high, but they also want to send a message that you cant run and when you do you will get caught.

That being said, I remember a day when a car chase was generally in section b of local the metro pages. I agree 100% this kind of thing has no place on a national cable/air network. Unless of course the chase starts in CA and ends in DC... then I guess it would be a worthy national story ;)

Peace,
MZr7

[proteus_lives]

23. I disagree.

Maybe the media shouldn't cover them as hard as they do but I don't think cops should let criminals run. Yes people could be hurt during the chase but that same criminal that was let go could blow away three people in a 7-11 later that night. That's not a risk the police should take.

[paulsby]

24. rubbish

we just need good policies.

my agency, in the last 10 yrs has not had a single fatility in a pursuit, and in the course of those pursuits we have caught hundreds of felons, some misdemeanants, domestic abusers, etc.

about 1/2 of our pursuits are terminated either by the initiating officer, or the sgt. who monitors on the radio.

what agencies need is good policy (limiting to BARRK felonies is over-restrictive for instance) and excellent training.

we train PIT and EVOC frequently.

if you outlaw car chases, there is NO incentive for a suspect to stop for police. that promotes more lawlessness.

[Happy Vic]

26. Thank you

Seriously, That your department has not been part of a fatality while involved in car chases.. Is a great thing.. Clearly your people practice and work the problem..

Here is the real problem . Those people who run.. likely are not following your procedures. They are more likely to be the ones killing a kid riding his bike or doing a T Bone into a Mother with 4 kids in the car at an intersection.

It is not that anyone thinks you should not arrest people you reasonably suspect of committing a crime..(To be straight up I would like to see what constitutes a crime shrunk considerably but that's another matter for another discussion).

It is just that the risk regardless of how much a legitimate effort you make to minimize that risk.. In my assessment at least and I am not alone..... It is just not worth it.

As a Civilian Peace Officer you know all about fight or flight.. It is intimately involved in chases and many other apprehensions. People get scared or angry and they do what they have been doing for 10,000 years RUN!! or Fight..

Police Officers as humans also get "Caught up in the excitement" and from time to time in spite of their best efforts do all manner of things if they were not so worked up/amped up themselves from the event, they would likely not do (at least not in front of a News camera crew to be videotaped and shown for the next 6 months. lol

I know from reading your commentary your not the sort that would start blasting away willy nilly at some person if they were in a crowd of people (maybe, even if they were shooting at you, a tough call there.)

It also rarely makes sense to start blasting down the road after some idiot setting a few 4000 pound hunks of steel hurtling past innocent people at speed.

If you are in hot pursuit of an arsonist or someone who you reasonably suspect of committing an armed robbery, assault, shooting, we really have no choice.. These people have to be brought to heel as soon as possible.. They represent a serious and immediate risk to the rest of society. I support you and we all pray in one form or another for your safety.

Chase someone who bolts at a traffic stop? NO.

Maybe they are wanted.. Maybe they have dope in the car.. Maybe Not... They may for some reason unknown ,even to them, just bolted (fight or flight). I know you have seen that before.. You and I just don't know.. and IMO it is not worth the life of a Civilian Peace Officer or the life of any other innocent to find out.

That's the point..

Most people know that criminals do not just commit one crime and go away.. they keep it up..
Relax...you will nab them someplace else.

If they are violent criminals, and you have a bead on them, specifically.. It is one thing..
But for routine traffic stops that turn into pursuits?

It is just not worth it.




Sidebar:

It is a mistake to the think the public Liberal or Conservative "Hate the Police" it is easy and simplistic.. and it does have the effect of clanning up departments.. But it is wrong in many ways.

There simply are some very legitimate reasons for criticisim and critique of department and the conduct of Officers..

The thing is we all want you to do your job and keep safe... which, if done right, is very difficult. "Be polite to everyone and have a plan to kill them"? I know youve heard it at the department your from.. will never be a acceptable mind set for Civillian Police in a free society.. For those who want that, want to be a part of that the Iranian Government is looking for a new Police Chief for Tehran as we speak.


It is also hard to keep in mind you serve all the people and not the Mayor or City Council, The Downtown Businessmen's Association, your Union or even your fellow Officers. Your supposed to be Civilian Peace Officers first and foremost your loyalty not to some esoteric laws but to the people. (That little point having been lost since about the 70s is where IMO the Police in general have lost a lot of citizen support and respect.

IMO much of the so called "Proffesionalism" being pushed since them has had the effect of turning Peace Officers into Law Enforcement Officers and a strange form or Revenue Enhancement Officers. That simply has not been a good thing for either Civilian Peace Officers or the Public.

[stray cat]

25. It depends on the circumstances - If a child is abducted and in the car I don't think

you let them go.

[kentuck]

27. With our present day technology..

cameras, radios, etc, there really is no need for high-speed chases which endanger other lives.

[Dr_Willie_Feelgood]

28. If I don't want to stop for the police

I shouldn't have to!

How dare they impinge on my right to drive at 80 MPH down neighborhood streets!

/sarcasm

Car chases should be minimized, but sometimes there is no other way.

"We can get their license plate!"

Which only works if the legal driver is driving. Unless we want to pay for tens of thousands of helicopters flying the skys of America 24/7. And/or install millions more spycams.

IMO, if the danger of letting them go is higher than the danger of chasing them, then you have to chase. For example, murderers, rapists, kidnappers, spouse abusers, armed robbers, etc. They MUST be stopped.

Chasing some 10 over airhead who doesn't want to spend their time on a traffic stop, but is not driving at massively dangerous speeds, let them go and nab them later. But if my loved one was killed by a vicious fool who kept going 100 MPH even without a cop behind them, yes, I would be as upset as if they were killed in an unnecessary chase.