Okay, so you’ve got a drunk (or high) or angry or spurned 17-29 year old male. For whatever reason, he steals a car because of impaired judgment. (Maybe he’s a habitual criminal or maybe he’s a messed up kid.) He heads out into the traffic, driving erratically.
Obviously the situation needs to be diffused, but what do the cops do? You got it .. they chase him, causing him to go even faster and more erratically then before.
Within seconds, testosterone poisoning and adrenalin course through his veins and then, for sure he’s out of his mind, whether he has ingested other drugs or not. Then the cop’s T and A kick in and, yet again, a lethal weapon has been unleashed on an unsuspecting public.
Last week, the news carried the story of a police chase in Los Angeles where the “perp” had allegedly stolen a late 70’s wood-paneled station wagon most kids wouldn’t want, even if their grandmother gave it to them. It had at most, a Kelley Blue Book value of $350.
Alma from San Diego
February 29, 2008 at 08:58 PM
Hi Candace,
The deterrent effect of pursuing suspects of grand theft auto doesn't seem to work either. Instead, video games, as you suggest, are spawned from these widely televised incidents. The only way I know of to influence change is to go through legislative process but how do we do that when the bills are seen to go against the law-and-order grain?
I'd be curious to hear if, or how many, CA police officers would support changes in pursuits as they see firsthand the devastation. Plus, there's a lot more paperwork involved in those chases because of the expense in personnel, traffic control, and collateral injury to equipment or civilians. I'd be interested in hearing updates on whether there are any upcoming bills to support or investigate.
Chuck
from Escondido, CA
March 02, 2008 at 04:41 AM
After reading the legislative analysis at the site you linked to, it sounds more like a bill to shift liability and allow for deep-pockets rewards for people injured in police chases than to actually limit police chases.
Personally, if someone is visibly and openly breaking the law, i.e., trying to escape and evade police in a high speed chase that they (not the police) initiated, I don't want the officer at the scene pausing and trying to figure out how to characterize the actions of the driver in the list of 22 enumerated felonies, plus all the various citations included by reference. I want him to take the reckless and criminal driver off the streets as quickly and efficiently as possible, and I don't want him deciding to let the criminal get away to rob again some other day merely to reduce the risk of a lawsuit.
Dave
from Oceanside
March 04, 2008 at 10:29 PM
There is a very old saying... you can't outrun a radio... it's not that tough to tail someone from a long way back.. I was a P.I. in Colorado.... and tailing.. while difficult if you want to be totally unnoticed.. it ain't that tough to figure out the places a guy can go..
If the police's mandate is really to protect and serve.. then they should be worried about protecting the stolen property along with the law-abiding public..
But.. let's face it.. the police are just a gang that is on the law's side.. Their egos won't let them do a radio chase.. they want to be there at the end and make sure the guy gets what's coming to him.. which is what leads to those lovely police beating videos.. which lets the bad guy walk...
Nope.. they don't want to wait for the guy to bail out of the car .. leaving it intact for the true owner.. because that would be a slap in their face. They wan't to be the guy that catches Al Capone...
It's a simple case of a group not understanding their purpose.
