I am of mixed feelings about chases. If they are chasing a perp for, say, auto theft, I do not think a high-speed chase is in order. Innocent people can get killed or injured, and all for a crime that results in a slap on the wrist.
The thing she’s stopping is foot chases (yes, auto chases are included). Based on some rather dubious numbers...
Ahh, but there is the rub Sans. The real problem is that fleeing and eluding is not punished severely enough. If the crime is minor and the person chooses to flee, it should be a 20 year felony NOT a 6 month misdemeanor.
At least Michigan enhanced penalties if a collision occurs, if there are injuries and if someone dies. Each level increases the penalty.
The biggest problem is that at the moment, the person is not thinking rationally. So how do you enforce laws on irrational people?
The biggest problem with a NO pursuit policy is that you will allow people who generally think rationally to consider fleeing instead of facing a ticket. You can see some of this rational thinking on the Tru TV,etc, of pursuits when the bad guys try to cause a traffic accident so that the pursuing officers cease the pursuit.
This is a conundrum for sure. I hold that the officers have to be held responsible for their driving but not the bad guys driving. If officers bust red lights at 60mph and cause a crash, it should be their butt on the line.
To hold the officer or the agency responsible for the bad guys’ driving is wrong.
Intersting story. One night an officer observed a minor traffic accident at an intersection. As he was waiting for the light to change, the at fault vehicle fled. He pursued. I joined in and at one point the bad guy was moving well over 120mph in a 40mph city street. We broke off. I recognized the description of the vehicle and went to his house and waited (I never got close enough myself to see the vehicle). After an hour, I went to the station and in he walks. After talking with him he said that he never looked back once the chase started. After we broke pursuit, we continued to travel at 100mph plus for over 15 miles until he ran out of gas. He drove county and city streets in this manner.
There are agencies who have been sued for NOT pursuing, for continuing to pursue, for breaking off pursuits once they start. It is a no win situation. The best we can due to hold the individuals responsible for their actions.
“Innocent people can get killed or injured, and all for a crime that results in a slap on the wrist.”
Couldn’t an innocent person be killed if the criminal ran anyway?