That was insane. While seeing the results of that maneuver were entertaining, it kind-of dulled my enthusiasm knowing the the officer got hurt and the guy in the truck died. I am of the same opinion as Ben on this.
On an entertainment level, that was awesome! On a realistic level, I dunno. I was a deputy sheriff in the '70s and early '80s, and as a young buck deputy I probably would have pursued the guy to the end of the earth. As an older, hopefully wiser Sergeant, I probably would have terminated the pursuit. Not to say that the officer in this incident was right or wrong. I wasn't there, I don't know everything that went on. There are valid arguments on both sides. But to me, the answer is very simple: make running/evading a Class A felony with mandatory serious jail time, no plea bargains, no community service. That would greatly minimized this type of situation. But the legislators are too averse to doing it and the judges (at least around here) are too wussy to enforce it.
I hate to second guess cops and be an arm chair quarterback, but it seemed unnecessary. I used to have a bunch of cop friends back in the day. They said you get "tunnel vision". So the guy in the truck died?
Yeah... Reading the article Larry posted, the cab of the truck got crushed on a cement culvert when the police car was pushing against the underside of the truck, killing the driver. The truck flipped when the cab crushed and flung the police car.
Oh I can think of a number of reasons that would never fly. Government control of you vehicle? Want to talk about a third rail? Not to mention all the hackers who would shut your car down and hold it for ransom Besides, I think that would be the first thing owners disabled after the speed limiter.
Well they already have control over it, vehicles equipped with certain security or onstar systems can be shut down with a click of a button. Also "The Man" can track your every move with the GPS system. Oh and did we forget about our cell phones, yep they got us there too. We are controlled by the government in everything we do might as well allow them to use some of that control for good purposes. Anyways I know exactly where this topic is going to go and I don't want to see a thread get shut down so I'll just leave it there.
Atlanta Police is not allowed to pursue. As a result, all the folks stunting, cutting donuts and shutting down the roads and freeways just drive off. So do the robbers, shooters and burglars. Lately the governor has begun using the State Patrol and it’s helping a little. (There’s more to Atlanta’s crime problem than lack of pursuit, too). I see both sides of the argument, but if you allow pursuit you need officers with good judgement, not just rules. I also think about the fact that officers are trained to enforce the law. This wasn’t just ‘one broken law’ and a chase, it was a continuous rolling accumulation of dangerous felonies. Numerous near misses, all of which are at least reckless endanderment. As to the tunnel vision, maybe that’s part of it, but an officer also has to think ‘this guy’s desperate, dangerous and probably armed’. As for not trying to pull the suspect out, if he’d survived the wreck there’s a good chance he’d have come out shooting. Patrick
Check out post #8. This applies to all sides of the situation. Suspect-Law enforcement-Procedures in different States and areas....
Let's remember that this started as a relatively minor traffic infraction. As of this moment I have no reason to believe that this guy had committed any serious crime or that he was armed. He was obviously afraid of being stopped; perhaps he had accumulated enough "points" that another violation would cost him his license. Perhaps he had gotten on the outside of a couple of cans of beer, perhaps he had some controlled substance in his truck. In other words perhaps he was doing exactly as many of us have done. The driver of the truck did not make a wise choice, but it should not have cost him his life, and it didn't have to. Just so you folks don't think I'm a cop basher; about a week ago the Massachusetts State Police confronted a group of mostly minority (non-white) citizens who had assembled along a highway carrying firearms. Some of the guns were assault-style rifles. The Massachusetts State Troopers negotiated with the armed group for 11 hours. All of the armed group surrendered peacefully; nobody on either side was injured. Police work at it's finest.
Agree with you John. I would not want to be a cop. As I said in an previous post I was friends with many cops in my younger days. I enjoyed hearing the stories, but to a person they would say you are only hearing the "good ones". They said the job is pretty boring, sitting at a broken traffic light for 12 hours and so on.
I think I read somewhere that this guy had some mental problems as well. That might have had something to do with his very bad decision in running, and continuing to run.
Do the police have control of the traffic signals? I think I only saw one red light. The rest were green. I can't catch a green light long enough to walk across a street in a crosswalk.
I agree on not wanting to be a cop. About 90% of the time a cop is dealing with someone who doesn't want to be dealing with a cop.
I agree John. To a person they all said a lot of boredom, then all hell brakes loose. That leads to heart attacks. Non of them wanted my job lol. 8th grade science Teacher
I wish I’d had a teacher like you! Closest I had was a Nam vet who’d take us ‘back’ if we got him talking. Patrick
