Thread: Should High Speed pursuits be called off?

Bring in the type of penalties they get in the US. They consider driving at speed/manner dangerous to avoid Police etc equivilent (<-- spell?) to attempt murder, you travel at speed you get so much time, you avoid police add so much time, and on it goes, it means that 75% of chases dont happen....on the down side when they do go off, they go off big!

there are huge amounts of pros/cons for this one....

digger

They should be called off unless they are filmed and we can watch them on TV shows like "Motorway Patrol", "Cops" or "Road Wars" etc.

The big problem is that it is usually the other motorist who is not involved in the chase that gets killed. Then it's the Police who have the chain of responsibility.

opposite in fact they should be authorised to crash the vehicle by chased or using the tyre deflators across the road or even allowing police sniper be authorised to shoot to kill driver from helicopter

In NSW there are strict guidelines...Safe Driver policy etc...if the offending vehicle crosses to the wrong side of the road for instance...pursuit terminated.

There are 2 sides to the story...is the car being taken for a "joy ride" (hate that term) i.e. it's been stolen? Or is it being driven by an axe wielding murderer hell bent on causing more carnage (as an example)? The cost to the community either way is high, be it through increased insurance costs, a grindingly slow judicial system etc etc.

Police vehicles are categorised in so far as how they are able to respond in relation to urgent duty..a fully marked highway patrol car as opposed to an unmarked holden rodeo for instance.

Similarly, the drivers of those vehicles are certified in terms of how they can respond. Gold, silver bronze.

To be honest, given the quality of the police I have seen driving the marked milk truck rodeos on urgent duty runs, I'd be very concerned if they were chasing a "joy rider". Especially if I was walking along the footpath nearby at the time with my kids.

Police are relying more and more on forensic procedures to catch these clowns, and thus the pursuit policies tend to reflect that.

Shooting at motor vehicles is not an option...shoot the driver (who could be a hostage - see Spit Bridge seige many moons ago) you have an out of control car. Shoot the tyres? Good luck..police struggle to shoot a paper target at 20 metres let alone a car travelling in excess of 100 kph...PIT manouvre? Our road network does not support that, nor does the government.

Road spikes? Already in use here, yet arseholes still manage to avoid them and murder the officer who laid them out (RIP Jim Affleck)...

I think motor vehicle manufacturers have a greater responsibility in relation to car theft, yet we know that will never happen. They are in bed with the insurance companies, oil companies blah blah blah...

A bit like having a policy of not paying ransoms, the kidnapping still happens you just end up with more body’s.

Any time there is a chase, a call has to be made. unfortunately it will a choice of trying to decide which is the lesser evil.

The cops cant win on this one, they will be crucified either way, for letting the crim drive away or for being responsible for damage to property or death.

however if there was a chase and a cop unfortunately runs over and kills a 3 year old kid, I would bet a bundle of cash against a bucket of turd that the original poster would be up in arms about that.

There is another alternative that is commonly practiced around the world.
permanent road blocks. Say like on the motor way, 4 lanes are blocked off and each car has to slow to a crawl to drive past a pill box while being tracked by what ever is the local brand of GPMG. Place these blocks on all roads though out a city in a grid like fashion so that no vehicle can move from one section to another with out having to go though a check point. Even better designing the roads so that they have these bottle necks. The other advantage is that it results in such congestion that no one can speed any way. This has other benefits such as increased use of public transport, reduced fuel consumption. And reduced crime (hard for a bank robber to get away.) In addition with such slow moving vehicles the cops themselves to not need vehicles. Think of a police force in 1400cc cars or 125cc motor bikes and the cash savings there. besides to demonstrate to the public you just issue the cops with military type assault weapons. This demonstrates to the public that the pollies support the cops and it also means that that the cops don’t have to move much to stop an offender. Like jumping a red light or over taking on a sold white line or even putting a wheel on the foot path, the cops can just give you a bit of a hosing down.

I think that’s a much better solution than having a couple of cars doing 160 in a 60 zone. Don’t you?

Digger, higher penalties tend to lead to more resistance to stopping thus more chases.

Look at it this way...there wouldn't be one person on the forum who hasn't had a huge argument with their girlfriend/boyfriend/wife/husband...then jumped in their car and taken their frustration out on the accelerator. Now think about that time for a moment...recall honestly how little control you had over your emotions/actions...now multiply that 100 hundred fold...even 1000 fold...and you might get close to how a drug/alcohol/hanging for a fix affected car thief/rapist/recent parolee might be feeling when he sees the cops in the rear view mirror. Zero control..and then the police engage, they are the ones who not only have to control the crook, but themselves, and the entire road related environment they are operating in at that time..then go and sit in the box at coroners court to explain their actions 2 or 3 years later..been there done that....and that cop could be a pimply 20 year old...feeling nervous lol!!!!

as stated "when they do go off,they go off big" but what your saying about the "higher penalties tend to lead to more resistance to stopping thus more chases." has been proven wrong..

The penalties (when severe) deter a very large number of the smaller chases... But your statement rings true in the more serious matters where they will drive even worse as they have more to lose.

MICKS has got it fairly well hit...

australia does not allow or endorse the PITT manouvre..it is very dangerous to bystanders/nearby houses/the offenders/the police... taking a speeding vehicle and deliberately making it move to a situation where it is out of control is asking for problems... also to do it with some safety the police vehicle needs a full chassis... so thats the end of that...


lots of people are coming up with ideas on what to do to end these chases

one such spot is here High Speed Chases

but in a lot of cases the speeds involved,the possibility of innicent passengers etc isnt taken into account...

road spikes are in good use, BUT you need a free patrol with spikes (not all have them) to be in a safe situation (this is safe for motorists - not for the copper unfortunately) and in front of where the offending veh is, and then due to inherent danger of deflating steer tyres etc at speed, they wont be used at higher speeds, nor will they be used on motor bikes..

lots of ideas including a new one apparently being trialled here - shooting a gps tracker into the offending vehicle....dont get me started on that..

shooting a revolving tyre is almost impossible, movie stuff really, especially with a handgun, and shooting the engine block is a joke, you need to hit a few critical spots or theyll keep going...

(we tested this theory with a 200B once, (on a range!) and took bits out of the block, and it kept going, it kept going until the coil etc copped one blowing carby off!)

I remember being involved in a chase that went from PORT AUGUSTA into ADELAIDE CBD, back out , up the freeway and on coming back down, stopped and arrested!! @400+ k chase, (then 3.5hrs home!)


in the long run, the police are deemed responsible if the offnder being chased hits someone or crashes themselves as now its considered as "being in custody"!! (dont get me started)

Now days not knowing whos coming etc, risk of innocent death/injuries weighs heavily in my decisions now, along with skills displayed by the idiot... sorry offening driver...if he looks like a bad driver, also higher risk of accident etc...innocent drivers dont hear the sirens due to better car buiLds or too much doof doof so no pre warning like we used to get..


no matter what happens, it'll keep happening.

hence why when it does and theyre caught, slam them hard!

I reckon cops should be issued with RPG's, how many car thieves are going to try and outrun a Rocket Propelled Grenade, Regards Frank.