Police Pursuits and Death to the Innocent: The Police Don’t Get It

We read this week the tragic news of eight (8) deaths in a police chase in California. According to news accounts, the police were trying to stop a Dodge Neon over alleged traffic infractions when the pursuit began. Is it worth risking the death penalty to innocent members of the motoring public to catch a traffic violator? There is nothing in the news accounts indicating that this violator was known to the police to be violent. Nonetheless, even though police chases present much greater dangers to the public themselves than do mere traffic violators, nonetheless, the pursuit ensued and the end result was the death of eight (8) individuals. It is not known whether one of the eight (8) was the suspect, but obviously at least seven (7) of the eight (8) were totally innocent in the premises and tragically many of the decedents were children ages 1 through 7.
This case is a classic example of what is wrong with police chases throughout this country. The police continue to believe that they have to chase violators otherwise they will be promoting a disregard for the law. Research and statistics show that if you terminate chases like the one in issue, there is no corresponding increase in the number of violations which later occur. There is a decrease, however, in serious injuries or deaths caused by unreasonable and unsafe police chases.
Our condolences go to the families involved in this great tragedy. Sooner or later the law enforcement community is going to have to accept the reality that being that police chases are too dangerous to justify unless the suspect being chased is known to be dangerous. Yes, the police should chase violent felons, rapists, murders, and carjackers. No, they should not chase mere traffic violators or non-violent offenders unless it is clearly safe to do so. If the roads are empty, it is late at night, and there are no other motorists on the road then chase such a suspect, however, if the chase is being conducted in an urban setting where other motorists are on the road, it is not worth imposing the death penalty on the innocent in order to catch a traffic violator