High-speed police chases have killed thousands of innocent bystanders

[GMDino]

(09-14-2015, 11:52 AM)Au165 Wrote: So I work in this industry (Police Pursuits). I can tell you since this report came out years ago some departments have moved to no pursuit policies (I’d say more still have general pursuit policies). There are a couple problems with no pursuit policies. The first is defining the policy, most no pursuit policies still allow for pursuits for violent felons. The problem is many pursuits are in fact drunk drivers who run a stop sign/red light then see lights and take off. Under many policies those guys can run free and who knows who they kill down the road. To put it in perspective in 2013 alone, 10,000 people died as a result of drunk driving, compared to the 11.5k since 1979 in pursuits. There is a time and place to pursue, a hard and fast rule of not pursuing traffic violations isn’t always a good one.

The next issue is many times, all a no pursuit policy is there for is to pass the buck on liability. Few areas are fully no pursuit, and in most cases the departments know that someone else will get them if they don’t. Some have begun to come on board with using tire deflation devices even with no pursuit policies, which at least gives them a tool to try and end it safely.

As for the “bazooka GPS” it is a company that will go under soon due to a lukewarm reception in the community. The problem is the “Bazooka” is attached to the cruiser and requires you to pursue and get very close to deploy. Even if they took it off the front of the cruiser firing at a car moving 100mph from a stationary position next to the road is almost impossible. As for the “EMP”, people have talked about it for a decade and they are no closer to getting it to work on a portable scale than they were a decade ago.

My take is simple, pursuits are a necessary evil to maintain law and order. Policies should be precise and training should be often and intense.

If the assumption is that someone is DUI does it make more sense to have them driving faster due to a chase?  And I ask seriously.  

Is the possibility of a death from the chase greater or less than the possibility of a death from the driver alone?  I don't know if I'm phrasing it correctly here or not.