Another Police Chase: Another Innocent Person Killed

According to news reports out of Memphis, Tennessee, on Monday, July 20, a suspect was on the run from the police when he ran a red light striking another vehicle and killing the innocent driver of that vehicle. The newspaper reports said the suspect was fleeing from the police in a stolen vehicle and that when he hit the other car he did so on the driver’s side killing the female driver instantly. The news report indicates that the innocent victim was a female in her early 20’s.
This is yet another case where the police were pursuing a stolen vehicle at high speeds in an urban area where it was foreseeable that an innocent person might be caught up in the chase and seriously injured or killed. We ask the question again: “Was it worth it?” A member of the public wrote to the newspaper following this chase and made the following comments:
“It is really sad that the police are still having these chases. . .if the person is not a murder or something of the sort then why put other citizens in danger by chasing them? You have helicopters, radios and other means of catching them besides high speed chases that end like this one. . .I really wish that the police department would come up with a better way to handle these types of situations.”
We could not have said it any better ourselves. The dangers to the public caused by a high speed chase oftentimes is far more dangerous than is the suspect to the public at large. We continue to advocate that the police should not chase non-violent offenders in high speed pursuit situations. If the police are to obey proper police procedure and weigh the need to apprehend against the danger presented by the chase itself, the police hopefully one day will learn that the only chases that are justified, particularly in an urban setting, are those involving violent felons.