Jason, a Houston police officer who blogs at Cigars, Donuts and Coffee, opines that “I have never seen an instance where a pursuit was terminated that the criminal slowed down and obeyed the traffic laws. When the police stop chasing, the criminal will continue fleeing at high speeds.”
This is a fascinating comment because of its underlying assumptions. First, that cops have a need to initiate high speed pursuit at all, and second that capturing the criminal is what it’s all about.
Jason uses the word “criminal” to describe his prey. Are we talking about a speeder? No one likes traffic infractions, and they certainly present a danger to others. But to characterize them as criminals suggests that these “criminals” could be mass murderers on their way to slaughter some innocent child. Unlikely. If it was a murderer on his way to slaughter a child, my thoughts would be different. But I’m unconvinced that this comprises the bulk of subjects of high speed pursuit.
So what does Catonya think about all this?
“There are over one quarter million police pursuits annually nationwide. Each year there are over 300 documented deaths in high speed pursuits; an average of one death per day Overall, 57,000 persons are killed or severely injured annually in the United States alone. One in four pursuits results in a crash-the majority of high speed drivers are young males-chases have lasted from one minute to several hours-covered a distance of 100 yards to almost 200 miles. On an annual basis, deaths resulting from high speed chase incidents exceed deaths related to police discharge of firearms. Los Angeles alone recorded 7,000 police pursuits; 1,200 injuries to innocent victims; another 980 injuries to police officers in the latest annual statistics. Los Angeles has one potentially deadly pursuit every 4 1/2 hours-resulting in 1,000 deaths and injuries a year. One-third of all high speed chase deaths are innocent bystanders. About 10 percent of high speed chases are begun by felons while the vast majority begin from a simple traffic stop for a minor infraction. ” PursuitWatch.org
Lots of people dying for very little. Lots of innocent bystanders. Lots of kids running away from a minor infraction so Mommy doesn’t ground them. Lots of cops who don’t drive nearly as well as they think they do.
If you get the call one night that your child is lying dead on the street because of a high speed pursuit after a speeder, where someone lost control of their vehicle and crashed into some innocent bystanders, will you take comfort in knowing that the police were doing their job by making sure that no speeder got away?
Based on my experience, I think cops just like high speed pursuit. It’s fun to drive fast, and one of the real benefits to being on the job. These are generally young men, many of whom have an affection for cars and racing. There are few occupations, aside from Nascar driver, that allow one to legally speed. Cop is one. It can be a very boring job at times, but it does have its benefits.
Another aspect of high speed pursuit, particularly when we’re talking about chasing a “perp” whose wrongdoing is monumentally inconsequential is just the natural cop need to teach a lesson to people who “just don’t listen.” Since a taser won’t do any good when the other guy is in a car, high speed pursuit is the only recourse. After all, if the perp gets away, the cop can’t show him who’s boss and that you don’t mess with a cop.
Ironically, I can’t help but wonder why the cop doesn’t just take down the vehicle description and plate and call his brothers to go find the perp. Most of the time, they can figure out where the owner lives or can have another cop position himself farther down the road that the perp is on to intercept him later, after things have calmed down. While this won’t work all the time, is the risk that a speeder will get away really that horrible an outcome, when compared to the alternative of death?
I suspect that there are cops who comprehend that the product of a high speed pursuit, death of an innocent bystander for example, is worse than the “risk” that the perp will get away. They understand the need for rules of engagement, and disengagement. They can remove the ego element in the name of not risking the death of others.
Over the years, cars have become faster. Both cop cars and regular cars can easily hit speeds that are beyond the skills of most drivers. Many roads can’t accommodate these speeds, and fleeing drivers rarely take notice of the signs telling them to slow down for a curve ahead. High speed pursuit is always a risk.
I can appreciate as well as the next guy that we love car chases. Movies with car chases, at least good ones, always seem to do well. As a society, this is the stuff that gets our blood pumping and makes us whisper “cool” under our breath. But movies aren’t real life, and Keanu Reeves always manages to survive to be in some other movie. That isn’t necessarily true in the real world. I am not prepared to approve of cops engaging in high speed pursuit if it means my kid may die. It’s just not worth it.
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