High speed police pursuits, be allowed?

Wife and cruising on Georgia expressway, 70mph (legal speed). Some kind of Hellcat came by us like we were standing still, pursued by three police cars, almost bumper to bumper. Weaving in and out of traffic. All were gone in the blink of an eye!

Sure, lights and sirens, but really scary. Should I have tried to dodge? But in retrospect if I had tried to dodge, could we have been hit by the chasee or chassor? I wonder how many innocent bystanders are maimed and killed?

According to the revised policy, an "APD (Atlanta Police Department) officer may engage in a pursuit only if they have direct knowledge that the person fleeing has committed a forcible felony and that the escape of said person would pose imminent danger."

I certainly want bad guys caught and locked up, but . . . . . when I am closely passed by four 4,000 pounds of metal bumper to bumper doing over 150mph inches, feet from me, gives me pause to reflect.

I at 70mph, them at 150mph, we could have been rear ended at a difference of 80mph if we were standing still. . . . . We would not be here!

Don't know if I am in the minority, here, but should police not chase in high speed pursuit. Find other ways without endangering us? I am still shaking over this incident.

Local cops & state cops gave up on guy going 150 mph on internet last W/E. Photos of guy, girlfriend in bar & car all over local news - they want him real bad, like jail.

I feel your fear & agree - no pursuit !

Marplot said:

Wife and cruising on Georgia expressway, 70mph (legal speed). Some kind of Hellcat came by us like we were standing still, pursued by three police cars, almost bumper to bumper. Weaving in and out of traffic. All were gone in the blink of an eye!

Sure, lights and sirens, but really scary. Should I have tried to dodge? But in retrospect if I had tried to dodge, could we have been hit by the chasee or chassor? I wonder how many innocent bystanders are maimed and killed?

According to the revised policy, an "APD (Atlanta Police Department) officer may engage in a pursuit only if they have direct knowledge that the person fleeing has committed a forcible felony and that the escape of said person would pose imminent danger."

I certainly want bad guys caught and locked up, but . . . . . when I am closely passed by four 4,000 pounds of metal bumper to bumper doing over 150mph inches, feet from me, gives me pause to reflect.

I at 70mph, them at 150mph, we could have been rear ended at a difference of 80mph if we were standing still. . . . . We would not be here!

Don't know if I am in the minority, here, but should police not chase in high speed pursuit. Find other ways without endangering us? I am still shaking over this incident.

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Hopefully someone that is or was a LEO will chime in but I thought it depends on traffic. Light traffic would mean go get their rear ends and if traffic is heavy they are not supposed to push them. I think it's a judgment call for the senior officer. This is what I was told but it could be wrong.
I have seen similar on a trip through Nebraska but there was about 7 cars pursuing but traffic was light at approximately 2 am. Not sure what they did but we got out of the way!

birddog 68 said:

Hopefully someone that is or was a LEO will chime in

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Will do. So, in "MY" current jurisdiction we CANNOT pursue for traffic violations, misdemeanor offenses or NON-VIOLENT felonies. I have worked for 2 other agencies in the past that were not as strict on their pursuit policies and I've personally seen what can happen during a pursuit gone wrong for lesser offenses. I'm a HUGE fan of RESTRICTIVE pursuit policies and hope like H**L I've seen my last one….

Deputy819 said:

Will do. So, in "MY" current jurisdiction we CANNOT pursue for traffic violations, misdemeanor offenses or NON-VIOLENT felonies. I have worked for 2 other agencies in the past that were not as strict on their pursuit policies and I've personally seen what can happen during a pursuit gone wrong for lesser offenses. I'm a HUGE fan of RESTRICTIVE pursuit policies and hope like H**L I've seen my last one….

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Where's the fun in that ? I used to be on the other end getting chased. lol

It's about time that technology solved this problem. Maybe a Police car could emit an electro-magnetic pulse, or something similar, that would stall the engine of a fleeing vehicle.

I'm sorry that you're upset by what happened to you. However, yes I think police have the right to pursue, even at high speeds within reason. I think some pursuits are over zealous in nature, and LEOs don't back off when they should.

We just don't know the situation as to why the pursuit you were involved in happened. There probably wasn't a news report either, as this situation is pretty commonplace these days. It's a dilemma for LEAs I'm sure.

Varmint Hunter said:

It's about time that technology solved this problem. Maybe a Police car could emit an electro-magnetic pulse, or something similar, that would stall the engine of a fleeing vehicle.

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It's happening, govt mandated kill switches in new cars. I really don't like the direction things are going. I want less involvement by all govt, and more personal responsibility.

ducky said:

I think some pursuits are over zealous in nature, and LEOs don't back off when they should.

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This is just ONE of the reasons for restrictive pursuit policies.

Back in the day the State Troopers had a saying when it comes to pursuit of criminals- "till death do us part". They don't do that anymore.

I think high speed pursuit has its place in law enforcement.

Depending on the reason for the pursuit, traffic violations only- no pursuit. Serious Felony and have no idea who the driver is (can't catch them later), pursue. These days, keep an eye on your rear view, and if you see something coming, get over if possible especially if it has flashing lights. For those that love to live in the left lane, if you see several cars behind you and none in front, get out of the left lane. Even though you are "doing the speed limit", it is not your job to enforce traffic laws and keep people from passing you. Too much road rage these days, and lots of accidents are cause by people going too slow on the Interstate, and people in a hurry trying to get around them.
Before I retired from a local PD, the current pursuit policy was, if you got in a vehicle pursuit, you notified dispatch immediately. Your supervisor would enquire what the violation is, and he would then tell you to continue the pursuit, or to break it off. If he told you to continue, then he would be accepting responsibility for whatever may occur after that. Most supervisors don't want to accept that responsibility, so they tell to you break it off. Word quickly got around that the Police won't chase you, so that lead to quite a few high speed "escapes". All we would do is try to follow, no lights or siren, and sometimes the bad guy would end up in an accident anyway.

M1A1ABRAMS said:

Where's the fun in that ?

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Ha! Well, in my "rookie days", yeah…it was fun. However, I'm approaching retirement years now and after being involved in numerous pursuits over the years and seeing what can happen to EVERYONE involved if it goes wrong….it's just NOT worth it unless it's certain "violent felony" circumstances. As they say…the juice HAS TO be worth the squeeze.

Laelkhunter said:

Word quickly got around that the Police won't chase you, so that lead to quite a few high speed "escapes".

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Yep….seen that happen quite a bit, too. Was a tough pill to swallow…..at first….but I'm VERY good with it now.

So I go to work at midnight and leave home around 1130 and usually set the cruise control just under where I'll get pulled over . Usually a few miles over the limit. I've had a few encounters where the police are in a rush. I had a Tahoe pull along side of me when I was riding my motorcycle in one night . Did a look and then stepped on it I was still doing 75 and never saw him again. Another time the car behind me lit up Another car that went by at north of 100 and it turned out it was Another cop . It's not always the chases but can be the ones that just speed because they can.