Weigh police pursuit against safety: Your Say
More than 5,000 bystanders and passengers have died in police chases over more than three decades, a Paste BN investigation found. Facebook comments edited for clarity and grammar:
Better judgment needs to be used in determining whether to chase a motorist who flees.
While I would expect an officer to pursue someone who has abducted a child, I might not want the officer to go after someone who has run a red light on a street crowded with pedestrians.
—Jan Kozlow
People aren’t being killed because police are chasing; they’re being killed because offenders are running. Place the blame where it belongs. If no one runs, no one dies.
—Jason Lenker
I understand that the initial infraction was minor in many of these cases.
However, the driver fled. Why? It could be a number of reasons. The officer on the scene doesn’t know.
—Rob Sayre
These deaths probably won’t change until police departments do a better job of hiring. Seek those with proven maturity and good common sense, instead of brutes with deep-seated masculinity issues who feel the need to win at all costs.
—Bill Jones
I was almost hit during a senseless police chase when a driver lost control of a car. My life and the lives of others are worth more than any offense a police officer thinks might have occurred. We are not in the movies. This is not a game. Find better ways to apprehend people in the interest of saving lives.
—Corinne Brown
Letter edited for clarity and grammar:
Paste BN’s article “High-speed chases have killed thousands” implied that the officers were at fault for chasing fleeing individuals (News, Friday).
Are we to allow suspects to flee in the name of avoiding an accident? A remedy to discourage fleeing would be to impose harsh sentences, for example a mandatory five-year prison sentence, for fleeing and even more if fleeing results in an individual’s death.
Paste BN’s article should have placed the blame for the more than 11,500 deaths where it belongs: on the fleeing motorists.
Bill Smith; Atlanta