Times-News reports a Sneedville man accused of stealing a pickup in Jefferson County was spotted by Bean Station police Tuesday afternoon and led police on a chase through Rogersville before crashing into several police cars in the Stanley Valley community.
Click here for the entire report.
I’m not questioning the chase. Based upon the article, it sounds justified and I’m glad no one was injured. So, this isn’t a criticism. However, there seems to have been an increase in high-speed pursuits: not all of them quite so necessary and not all of them have ended without incident.
Also, many of the attempts to intercept or box-in suspects have resulted in violent showdowns, placed officers at risk and ended with significant damage to city and county property/equipment.
Considering these pursuits always pose a danger general public, not to mention liabilities for the department and loss of equipment… and we just bought new cruisers for the county, so I’m not eager to see those totaled: I’m just wondering are there alternatives?
Certainly, I don’t support the notion of state or federal government guidelines for high-speed pursuits. Each department should implement and be responsible for their own policies. And a no-chase policy altogether would be foolish. Heck, if I knew I couldn’t be chased, this would even tempt me to evade rather than take the speeding ticket from Hammie.
But back in 2006, there was a big ado made over the LAPD using laser-guided cannons, which attached a GPS dart to the suspects’ cars and allowed officers to ease back from the chase. You don’t hear much about this anymore. So, I’d be interested in knowing how effective this equipment has been, who else is using it, how much it costs and might we be eligible for grants to purchase the equipment. Investing in such technology might be more cost-effective in the long run than constantly replacing or repairing patrol cars: It could alleviate some of the risk for the officers, suspects, passengers and public.
You know, if our government can use technology to spy on average, law-abiding citizens: I don’t see any reason why our police departments shouldn’t go high-tech to nab the bad guys.
It’s a thought.
I agree with you ( 1000%)