This is why you should NEVER NEVER Talk To police....

I agree but I think the cops should just write his license down and let him go...arrest him later instead of increasing chances of a bad accident caused by the high speed chases.

 

But what about civil rights violations?

That seems to be the area where police officers routinely violate the law without punishment. And the fact that there usually isn't any punishment for civil rights violations, some police officers take that as a signal that they can cross the line and violate the civil rights of its citizens in order to "solve the crime".

It's also the area in which police officers would most likely be presented with situations in which they have to make decisions to either uphold the civil rights, bend existing law or break it completely.

Nobody wants real criminals to go free, but civil rights protections exist to prevent the innocent. It's an unfortunate side effect that the same protections sometimes allow the guilty to go free. But I'd certainly rather a few guilty people escape punishment than have any innocent people falsely accused.

 

What if it is is not a minor offense? What if it is a stolen car? I mean there are so many uncertainties.

 

Statistically speaking, it's extremely unlikely to be either of those things.

 

Not when people are evading the cops. Generally people don't run from the cops on minor traffic offenses - if they are trying to evade often its because they are trying to hide something else. I'd say the statistics swing the other way in those circumstances, but there's no way to tell until after the stop if there are drugs in the car or evidence of some other crime.

 

If somebody does not pull over and runs from the police then most of the time they're just scared, is that what you are saying? I think most of the time that is not the case in high-speed chases.

 

The state of California's own statistics showed that only 10% of chases were initiated by people who were found to have committed a felony of any kind (not necessarily a violent felony), and the California statistics have been questioned as being overly inclusive in order to support the idea of continuing chases.

There was an independent study a couple of years ago that found that, nationwide, almost none of those who led police on high speed chases and were eventually caught had done anything that would've been a felony of any kind.

So while many of the people may well have had warrants out for their arrest, the warrants were for relatively minor non-felonies. Given that as many as 40% of all pursuits end in crashes, that 57,000 people are killed or injured every year in crashes resulting from high speed pursuits and that 1/3rd of all high speed pursuit deaths are innocent bystanders, the cost of the chasing suspects who, statistically speaking, aren't exactly the big fish criminals that the allocation of resources required to undertake a high speed pursuit would seem to suggest should be considered (and many police departments are reconsidering their chase policies.

I'll look for the study again and post it if I can find it.

 

That's the thing though, how do you know which is which?

 

I'd be interested to see the study. I guess it comes down to what you consider a high speed chase as well - Evading Arrest in a Motor Vehicle is by itself a felony (at least in Texas), but honestly not all evading cases are high speed chases in the traditional sense of the term.

 

You don't. But given the risk vs. reward ratio, the smart policy would be to not chase unless you know for sure (and many cities, such as Dallas, are adopting chase policies that are essentially that).

 

This post sums up how I feel about this thread.

Every experience I've had first hand with cops has been pleasant, even when being ticketed, I respect what they do and understand the risks...but some of the arrogance displayed in this thread annoys me too much.

 

Will you be upset if your loved one was killed or injured by a high speed chase that was not necessary(which in most cases, it isn't necessary)?

Sometimes people do realllly dumb things like leading cops on a chase just because she/he has something to hide.

I'm just wondering, what is a perfectly good reason to go on a high speed chase?

 

Civil rights violations are another matter. My initial post was discussing the perks (letting officer's off for speeding, running a red light, etc.) that had so many people up in arms and basic respect given to cops. Did you have something specific based on something I wrote?

And I am also of the opinion that it is better to let the guilty go free than it is to lock up the innocent.

 

I understand your point, but imagine a scenario where cops would never pursue anyone that fled from them. The end result would be people running from the police knowing the cops would be powerless follow them and apprehend them. You'd be creating an incentive to run from the cops.

I know the response that is coming will be that you could write down their license plate number and follow up later, but that creates 2 problems: 1) even if you know who the car belongs to, that is hardly enough evidence to prove an evading arrest case beyond a reasonable doubt - you have to be able to prove who the person was driving the vehicle 2) more importantly - if they are engaging in some more serious activity (from drugs all the way up to hiding evidence in a murder case) you've given them the opportunity to hide the evidence.

It's a dangerous balancing act of how much do you hamstring the officers. But, my question is why is the anger of a high speed chase aimed at cops, isn't it the suspect who is causing the high speed chase? I mean its easy to blame the cops for engaging in the chase, but it's the suspects who decide to run.

 

He shoulda plead the 5th
<div><embed src="http://www.livevideo.com/flvplayer/embed/25CA55CEDF8E46DBAB071F9B122DBA7C" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" quality="high" WIDTH="445" HEIGHT="369" wmode="transparent"></embed><br/><a href="http://www.livevideo.com/video/embedLink/25CA55CEDF8E46DBAB071F9B122DBA7C/544111/funny-cop-scene.aspx">Funny cop scene</a></div>

 

Correct me if I am mistaken, or "late to the party" or whatever...


but....


Is this a 15 page conversation with, among other members, a policeman, all started under the pretense of a 12 hour youtube video that explains, quite thoroughly, NOT to have conversations with police?

Just checking.

 

They're sheep.


LOL

 

I just broke up with my cop friend cus of this thread. Thank a lot guys...