Teen Paralyzed During Car Chase Loses Case Against Police

I would hope police would have to follow rules rather than make them. The court sometimes would rather protect its appearance rather than its edicts, and I wonder if that's what gave it power and Judicial Review in Mabury v. Madison. If this case completely cuts off police responsibility in accidents during chases, then it's certainly wrong, and I have heard of at least one case where a friend's sister got killed by a police car hitting her. I was told she was on her way to work, but the cop(s) got away with it, as they do too much IMHO.

so are you saying the idiot driving 100mph crossing double yellow lines into on coming traffic is not a serious danger to the community that needs to be stopped? you think think that because suddenly the cops turn off their lights and stop chasing he's going to begin to suddenly drive safely? he's going to continue to drive as if he's still being chased and eventually he'll kill someone. at least in this case the only person harmed was the idiot himself. guess he won't be running from anyone anymore.

so are you saying the idiot driving 100mph crossing double yellow lines into on coming traffic is not a serious danger to the community that needs to be stopped?

No, I'm not saying that at all. In fact, if you read my comment again I probably never said anything closely resembling that.

What I'm saying is if only one car is flying through traffic at 100mph instead of 2 or more cars the chances of others getting hit are reduced.

There is no perfect solution to dealing with idiots who flee. Cops do the best they can and the policies they have established are designed to help protect the bystanders.

The perpetrator, once he feels like he isn't being chased anymore will slow down and the threat to other drivers and pedestrians will be minimized. He'll probably be ecstatic thinking he got away. He will be very disappointed later that day or the next morning when the police drag his sorry ass out of bed.

I'm not believing he goes straight home. But, odds are good he will eventually. They may be good at lying but, in general, they are pretty stupid even though they think they are smarter than the cops.

You right that it can be difficult to properly identify the perp. That is why they are only supposed to stop the chase if they can identify him. However, once they have enough information to postively identify the driver they are supposed to stop the chase.

This is the rule that many law enforcement agencies have to follow including the one that was brought to court in this case (according to NPR news last night at least). Police agencies across the country have been trying to find a way to balance the risks of the high speed chase with the risk of letting the perp run free for a few hours or days (or perhaps never catching him). This policy is where many are currently at now.

your right it was a generalization. however, I have consistently stated they need to have enough information to positively ID the driver before the break off the chase.

It does no good to let them drive off if you can't identify them in such a way as to please the courts at a later date.

My second comment (5.2) was a direct follow-up to my initial comment (5) where my basic summary of the procedure was initially presented. 5.2 was just an attempt to clarify for Michael (5.1).

I'm not a cop nor do I play on on TV - however, my older brother is one and I talk to him about these kinds of things on occasion. I'm certain some of the nuances of his job miss me terribly and thus I'm sure I lose a bit in the translation into these discussions.

In the end I still think the court was right in ruling against the paralyzed guy. However, if the NPR broadcast I heard on this case was accurate, and the cop could positively identify the guy for later apprehension, then I think he should have terminated the pursuit. I realize it has to be incredibly hard to just stop chasing someone. To be honest it seems totally unintuitive to me to do so. Much like your "fight or flight" response to being hand-cuffed I'm sure many officers get a similar adrenaline rush when they get drawn into these chases that cause them to feel like they have to "get him" - I think it would be human nature under the circumstances; that is why they create policies like this to help take out the "human error". Sure, they aren't perfect but for as there are criminals there will be runners and for as long as people run the police will be trying to find the right balance between pursuit and public safety.

Being a police officer isn't an easy job. They put their life on the line many times every day and, generally, all they get in return from the general public is ridicule and scorn and people, like myself, who have the advantage of hindsight to judge the decisions they made in the heat of the moment.