Last Saturday - August 8, 2009 a car that ran a stop sign decided not to stop when the police tried to pull them over... they decided to have a high speed chase and the highway patrol made the decision to participate in this stupid game of cat and mouse.... A short time later seven (7) people are dead.... Four of those people were children - ages, 1, 3, 4, and 7....
There are two major issues - I find wrong with this... First - chasing a car that ran a stop sign is beyond dumb - Yes, follow them if it's safe... With cameras on almost every stop light (this is California) - the highway patrol could have snapped so many pictures of the driver and license plates that it would not have been difficult to track him down.. But because the police did not use good judgment - Seven people are dead....
The second major issue I find in this story is this - the driver hit a truck - killing four (4) children - the children were ejected out of the truck and died at the scene... There were a total of five (5) children and two (2) adults in this pickup truck...... I personally do not know of any pickup truck that sits seven (7) people.... These children could have been saved if they were in a proper car/truck with seat belts.... this just breaks my heart...
High speed chases have become the norm in California. I have personally witnessed three (3) while out and about.... I have seen too many to count on the news.... I do not understand why this has become an epidemic.... Do the drivers want to have their two (2) seconds of fame on the 5 o'clock news? Do they really believe they can get away?
There are very sophisticated cameras and video equipment throughout California - my question is - instead of inducing high adrenaline (all parties) and risking the lives of innocent people.. why doesn't the California Highway Patrol and other police agencies use them............
Listen to the video below - the newscaster sounds so joyful, amazed, and happy to broadcast this pursuit......
I can understand the news media getting excited about a chase. After all, they deal in scandal all the time. But the cops ought to know better and use some judgment.
ReplyDeleteI agree, what a waste for anyone to die in one of these senseless chases.
see, I can't understand why the media has to report the chase as "breaking news" which I have seen on several occasional also in So. Calif. There were several last year around this time that I remember thinking "why are reporting this; this is not newsworthy to show us the chase as it progresses". that was sad about this accident. I don't know why people don't realize if you try to outrun a police car, you are always going to lose. I think they think they will be the statistic that will get away with it.
ReplyDeletebetty
I have watched lots of chases on the news and they are usually in California. I have never seen any in Georgia.
ReplyDeleteIt does seem that the officer could have used better judgement and just made a picture.
First, let me say that this is a tragedy, plain and simple.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I don't make judgment and draw a conclusion based on what the media tells me. I want to know the whole story before I do so. At first glance, it may seem based on the media, that this all began after a car went through a stop sign. What we don't know, or at least what I don't know based only your post, is that after that car failed to stop, the officer may have learned that the driver was a wanted person for a serious crime, or that the car had been involved in a serious crime prior to the traffic infraction. Does this justify the officer in pursuing the car? Maybe, maybe not. But, I want to know all the facts before rendering an opinion.
And as has always been the case, when high speed pursuits end in death and mayhem, it's always the police who are blamed. Your post says "But because the police did not use good judgment - Seven people are dead....". Aren't those seven people also dead because the driver failed to stop? The driver isn't at fault here too? Let's remember that while the police might "continue" to pursue, it's the driver who "initiates" it.
Police do sometimes use poor judgment, but I get tired of them always being the scapegoat. Let's put AT LEAST half the blame squarely where it belongs.....on the driver who refused to stop.
Matty - well said - thank you. I was narrow sighted.
ReplyDeleteBest,
Kelly