Like most problems, it’s all shades of grey. Is a missing plate worth a high speed chase endangering the public, probably not. Did someone kidnap someone and is running from police. Probably yes? Idk, I’m not qualified to answer.
As others have said the same thing it’s important to remember why we do things; if we punish those that are driving fast and recklessly because it puts lives in danger than the punishment or the pursuit of justice should not be worse than the offense.
If catching a criminal will put more innocent lives in danger than letting them go… then yeah, let them go.
If they have plates then you’ll id them eventually and you can arrest them later. If they don’t, like this case, then too bad. Pretty much anything would have been better than this.
I know there’ll be people who dismiss it as “sci-fi” or whatever, but it seems like magnetic tracking tags that could be thrown or fired at cars would be a good idea for situations like this. They won’t always work but it’s better than either the chase or just giving up.
I remember an ad for GM’s OnStar that showed the police contacting someone at OnStar or GM or whomever, who was able to contact the car being chased and turn the engine off. I wonder what happened to that? It was well over ten years ago when I was seeing that commercial.
Some cities, such as Denver, have rules that police can’t engage in high-speed pursuits. This was enacted because it simply was too dangerous - you end up with innocent motorists, pedestrians, police and the perps often getting injured or killed and cars smashed. So, they simply take note of the description and plates and keep an eye out for them. This does suck because then if someone gets pulled over in a stolen car, they either just don’t stop, or stop and then leave once the cop is stopped. Not sure what a better solution is though.
Okay, what’s going to make someone on a bunch of meth with outstanding warrants and illegal guns driving in a stolen car say “oh, I’ll just surrender to the police I guess”?
Not ruining their life over it would be step one. Sure, they should still face some punishment. Maybe even do some rehab if all they have is possession.
The problem is treating everyone like Bonnie and Clyde because they have a warrant for marijuana possession.
I don’t think the average person getting in high speed chases with police is doing it because they have a warrant for marijuana possession. For one, we kinda solved that marijuana possession thing in Colorado. In Denver anyway, it was often people who just robbed a store, or were driving a stolen vehicle.
I would rather someone on a bunch of meth with outstanding warrants and illegal guns not be involved in a high speed chase where other people could get hurt.
The risk vs. gain on all but the “this person is a significant and immediate danger to others” is so one-sided I can’t understand why it’s even a discussion (except some people have such a hard-on for punishing criminals they are fine with innocents as collateral damage).
Sure, I agree that chases are a bad idea. My response was in the context of someone seeming to suggest that if the populace was less overpoliced, police were less violent, and the judicial system less punitive, people guilty of serious crimes might just decide to stop and wait for the police, even though they can just drive away. That seems unlikely to me.
What’s the answer here? Let anyone who’s willing to run from the police go or just pull over law abiding citizens?
Like most problems, it’s all shades of grey. Is a missing plate worth a high speed chase endangering the public, probably not. Did someone kidnap someone and is running from police. Probably yes? Idk, I’m not qualified to answer.
That answer shows that you’re more qualified to make this decision than anyone in the Hickory Police Department.
Yeah having no plates required the death penalty.
Of innocent bystanders none the less.
As others have said the same thing it’s important to remember why we do things; if we punish those that are driving fast and recklessly because it puts lives in danger than the punishment or the pursuit of justice should not be worse than the offense.
If catching a criminal will put more innocent lives in danger than letting them go… then yeah, let them go.
If they have plates then you’ll id them eventually and you can arrest them later. If they don’t, like this case, then too bad. Pretty much anything would have been better than this.
Yes. Bust out those drones and helicopters and follow from the air.
Or let it go.
I know there’ll be people who dismiss it as “sci-fi” or whatever, but it seems like magnetic tracking tags that could be thrown or fired at cars would be a good idea for situations like this. They won’t always work but it’s better than either the chase or just giving up.
Paint ball guns with UV dye would be another option in this direction.
I remember an ad for GM’s OnStar that showed the police contacting someone at OnStar or GM or whomever, who was able to contact the car being chased and turn the engine off. I wonder what happened to that? It was well over ten years ago when I was seeing that commercial.
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Some cities, such as Denver, have rules that police can’t engage in high-speed pursuits. This was enacted because it simply was too dangerous - you end up with innocent motorists, pedestrians, police and the perps often getting injured or killed and cars smashed. So, they simply take note of the description and plates and keep an eye out for them. This does suck because then if someone gets pulled over in a stolen car, they either just don’t stop, or stop and then leave once the cop is stopped. Not sure what a better solution is though.
Not being such a punitive police state that people surrender voluntarily for anything less than murder?
Or stop enforcing warrants during traffic stops and just focus on traffic stuff.
Okay, what’s going to make someone on a bunch of meth with outstanding warrants and illegal guns driving in a stolen car say “oh, I’ll just surrender to the police I guess”?
Not ruining their life over it would be step one. Sure, they should still face some punishment. Maybe even do some rehab if all they have is possession.
The problem is treating everyone like Bonnie and Clyde because they have a warrant for marijuana possession.
I don’t think the average person getting in high speed chases with police is doing it because they have a warrant for marijuana possession. For one, we kinda solved that marijuana possession thing in Colorado. In Denver anyway, it was often people who just robbed a store, or were driving a stolen vehicle.
I would rather someone on a bunch of meth with outstanding warrants and illegal guns not be involved in a high speed chase where other people could get hurt.
The risk vs. gain on all but the “this person is a significant and immediate danger to others” is so one-sided I can’t understand why it’s even a discussion (except some people have such a hard-on for punishing criminals they are fine with innocents as collateral damage).
Sure, I agree that cops not chasing people through the city at 100 miles an hour is much better for everyone.
Probably nothing, which is why chasing them is dangerous or deadly.
Sure, I agree that chases are a bad idea. My response was in the context of someone seeming to suggest that if the populace was less overpoliced, police were less violent, and the judicial system less punitive, people guilty of serious crimes might just decide to stop and wait for the police, even though they can just drive away. That seems unlikely to me.
Fair enough.
In Australia I think they call the chase off once it enters a suburb or becomes high speed
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