should police be involved in high speed chases

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   bonny2010posted 14 years ago

   Recently four people and one three month old baby were killed during a high speed police chase. Can high speed police chases be replaced by technology to trace the offenders and thereby avoid the deaths of innocent pedestrians and motorists..

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      Jim Hunterposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      The moment a chase becomes dangerous it should be stopped.

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         lrohnerposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         They should be allowed to pursue a high speed chase in cases where what the chasees might do if left uncaught is worse than the potential damage than the chase itself.

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            Mishaposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            Lisa, do you seriously expect a young guy in a uniform to make a sound decision about the risks involved, while in the middle of a high speed chase, eager and anxious?

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               lrohnerposted 14 years agoin reply to this

               Let's put it this way.... I don't expect the police to not chase a criminal who has a kidnapped person in the car. It may be dangerous, but I would imagine it would be more dangerous for the guy to get away with the kidnapee.

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                  Mishaposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                  So it's ok when a few innocent people get killed and injured in the process (quite possibly including a kidnapped one), and some serious property damage is inflicted, as long as they catch the criminal, right? So the justice can prevail no matter cost?

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                     lrohnerposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                     I could care less about personal property. It can be replaced. And no, I don't want or expect innocents to be hurt or killed. But I do think that is the exception and not the rule.

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                     ledefensetechposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                     It would be nice, Misha, if people made all the right decisions and we all treated one another according to the golden rule.  Things in the real world don't work that way, though.  No matter how good of a job you do in a high speed situation, you never know when your luck is going to run out.  When you also consider the fact that, most times, you don't know why someone is running...well how can you expect a person to make the right call when they almost never have all the information they need?

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                        Mishaposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                        Yes, and this is exactly why I think high speed chases bring more harm than benefit overall.

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   TNN UnderTheSunposted 14 years ago

   Maybe at some point.  Right now, it still takes boots on the ground.  And when it is a satillite, who knows, maybe it'll zap the wrong car or something.  Nothing will ever be perfect.  When people act dangerously, they endanger others.  I don't think a different technique will ever change that.  Especially if it's someone crazy just out to cause mayhem (rare, but it's happened).

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3. 69

   ledefensetechposted 14 years ago

   Six of one, half dozen of the other.  A cop involved in a high speed chase doesn't know why a person ran, the only thing they can know is that they did run.  I had a friend who used to be a cop who was injured in a high speed chase while chasing someone who kidnapped a teen right off the street and was planning to rape and kill her.  When the chase became dangerous, should the cops have called it off?
   
   The fault here doesn't lie with the police who are doing their sworn duty.  The fault lies with the scum who run from the cops and put us all in danger.  There are some attempts to use air assets like helicopters to keep track of fleeing suspects.  Hmmm.  Perhaps General Atomics can whip something up similar to the Predator that law enforcement can use.  If they can drop the cost low enough for even small departments to use them, it might become a viable alternative to high speed chases.

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      Jim Hunterposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      "I had a friend who used to be a cop who was injured in a high speed chase while chasing someone who kidnapped a teen right off the street and was planning to rape and kill her.  When the chase became dangerous, should the cops have called it off?"
      
      Yes, absolutely should have called it off. How many more people need to die?
      
      That might seem cold to you but how did your friend know what the bad guy planned to do?
      
      Even if her being murdered was the end result he couldn't have known it would end that way.

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         Cagsilposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         

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            Jim Hunterposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            Brilliant reply.

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               Cagsilposted 14 years agoin reply to this

               It is actually, because it recognized that you're not thinking of other people's protection, regardless of what your words say. So, enjoy.

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                  Jim Hunterposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                  No it didn't, it didn't recognize anything. It was a face rolling its eyes.

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         ledefensetechposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         You have to assess the risks involved.  This guy wasn't just some punk vandal or even someone carrying paraphernalia, this guy proved he was willing and able to snatch someone from the street, rape and murder them.  Given the level of threat this guy posed to the population, I have to disagree with you, the cops were justified in chasing him down.

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   Mishaposted 14 years ago

   Nah, high speed chase is akin to using a machine gun in a crowded mall. Unprofessional, to say the least.

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   Doug Hughesposted 14 years ago

   Wow! I find myself in agreement with both Jim and Misha in the same post - nearly.
   
   When the chase becomes dangerous, the cops should break it off UNLESS they know that the risk of letting the suspect go is greater then the risk to the public who gets in the way of the chase.

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      Ralph Deedsposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Me, too. Too many police and civilians die as a result of high speed chases.

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   SomewayOuttaHereposted 14 years ago

   ...no...even when they are just at the beginning of a pursuit, accelerating with sirens on...not everyone can hear or notice at first...and some don't get out of the way fast enough...i kind of cringe when i see them moving fast at intersections....wouldn't take much to hurt someone....and then of course those trying to get away are moving fast and don't want to get caught...big risk takers.
   
   I don't think it is worth the risk...anytime.  My 'pop' was a cop...and was hurt in a chase....flipped his vehicle and all that....chasing an escaped convict.

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   earnestshubposted 14 years ago

   High speed chases are dangerous and irresponsible. I would rather the criminals escape slower, which they will if they are not being pursued at high speed.

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   logic,commonsenseposted 14 years ago

   Well I'm not sure but if the police weren't involved, high speeds probably wouldn't be attained.  I think all miscreants should have governers on their cars to limit their speed.

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   earnestshubposted 14 years ago

   I would take a more Monty Pytonish approach and make a law that says all those avoiding the police must ride bicycles.
   I feel sure they would comply!

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    Lecieposted 14 years ago

    they should just shoot a tracking device onto the car and as back up have a helicopter follow the car too. i don't think they should chase at all. i heard once that some police departments have something they can shoot at the front of the car to zap the engine into shutting down. to me those methods would be better than doing 100 or more and risking a lot of innocent lives, but the cops are just to hot for those high speeds, sometimes they're as bad as the criminals.

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    indefatigable,penposted 14 years ago

    We have specialized air units in most departments and there should be a new procedure written. Response by air as needed "case by case" seems reasonable to me?

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