Cars crashing after police call off pursuits?

[Resurrection]

It seems to be a regular occurance that driver's attempting to escape from police crash AFTER the police call off the chase because they state it was geting too dangerous to continue.

These stories are hard to believe because if a driver has evaded police they wouldn't need to drive as dangerously as when they were being pursued. So why do the police reports often state that they came across the crashed vehicle a short time after they called off the chase?

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/ca...227-198jw.html

I am not against the police doing their job. They have a difficult decision to make as some people will put their lives and those of others at risk just to get away.

I've seen the aftermath of a police chase gone wrong. In the early 90s we were hanging around the centre of Dandenong one night when a couple of police cars with lights blazing tore past us. Being young and bored we took of after them and arrived a few minutes later at a crash scene. A police divvy van had just cleaned up a taxi at an intersection. The police quickly shut down the area.

So what are people's opinions about these "crashed after the pursuit was called off" reports?

[geckoGT]

Do we really have to go through this topic again?

Don't for a minute think that someone with complete disregard for the law will suddenly slow down because the cops may not be chasing them anymore. The cops call off the chase because the moron has already demonstrated he has no regard for the law and public safety so why would they suddenly grow some and slow down.

So sick of the "the poor boys, its the cops fault", lets put the real blame where it should be.

[Rodp]

You don't think there's a review process after each occurrence? Police are held accountable and there's plenty of data available to determine whether the pursuit was called off or not.

There's also more than enough captured video examples of boneheads not slowing down once pursuing lights and sirens drop off a chase. Crashing after a police pursuit being called off isn't a surprise. When you've reached the point of recklessness that has police deciding to not pursue you, the chances of collision with something is pretty high.

[buggo]

If your looking for someone to defend the drivers being pursued, maybe you should try ls1.com.

[superyob]

Police are damned if they do and damned if they don't,,,

[MNM96]

Excellent thread. Rep points to the intelligent posters. You will know if you didn't get any rep!

[ThaFlash]

This thread has been 100 times over the years and it may last as long as a high speed chase.

The police should and will obsolved of any wrong doing 100%.

If they can't chase down the bad guys then there's something wrong in the world.

Dunno if any of you guys ever had scanner before it went digital, I did and I heard quite a few high speed chases and they were all abandoned within minutes due to fear of public safety. But these never made the news or papers.

Cops in my book in these situations are unsung heroes!

[4Vman]

I liked my rocket launcher idea in a previous thread on the topic...

I wonder how many would run if they thought an RPG was locked on their butts.....

In all seriousness though calling of the pursuits does nothing to slow these clowns down.. theyve got no idea what the police are doing, they just keep going.... but as Lynton has said, the topic has been well covered..

[Highway]

Originally Posted by 4Vman

I liked my rocket launcher idea in a previous thread on the topic...

I wonder how many would run if they thought an RPG was locked on their butts.......

Or call in the Air Force! I am sure them fly boys would like to test out there new F/A 18's on some moving #@(4wits as a target.
means stop

[JG66ME]

To me the calling off of a pursuit is the police doing what they have to do. If my car was stolen for example I would hope that the police would do their best to get it back without endangering life. That is chase if it's safe.

The police procedure I am sure would have guidelines as to what is safe and when to call it off. I am also sure that these guidelines and procedures are under constant review along with the training in carrying out these duties.

All of it involves risk. A rapid decision has to be made when the risk becomes unacceptable. No doubt a human may sometimes get it wrong.

[DBourne]

I remember someone posting in the older version of this, once the cops are gone the drivers would probably get a lot more nervous thinking "where the hell did they go" so straight away they aren't focusing on the road.

[GS608]

The last thing we need is more police powers being reviewed and done away with. The pursuit policy is already a joke, people with no experience in the field review each and every case and start making it harder for the blokes out on the street to do their job.

[Peter B - CV8]

Originally Posted by buggo_gt

If your looking for someone to defend the drivers being pursued, maybe you should try ls1.com.

What a silly comment. As a member of both the Ford/LS1 forums, I think you would get the same response from both. Brand bashing really has nothing to do with a police pursuit......

[ratter]

The police have rules that they must obey in a chase situation, these rules will depend on their level of training and which vehicle they are in, i.e divvy van or pursuit vehicle etc.
The police will stick to these rules and if a situation is deemed to dangerous by the police pursuer or the radio controller the chase will be called off.
It is a judgement call and some times it will go wrong.

Imagine if the police did not pursue, every man and his dog would then run, even for the smallest of infringements. How safe would we all be then?

[mik]

your wife is at home being raped/murdered, or your house is burning down , or a car theif/bank robber is getting away, your dad is haveing a heart failure as you speak, do police not chase the offender because its too dangerouse? or should police/emergency services take a risk and chase them down /get to that emergency in a hurry? the correct answer seems pretty obviouse to me, sadly it goes wrong sometimes ..................but thats life.

[Brazen]

there is a lot of naivety in this thread, as soon as a chase is called off, the police dont just turn around and go home. They are still allowed to 'respond' with lights and sirens to the fleeing vehicle. The police are still chasing the car, but its no longer called a pursuit so their ***** are covered in case something goes wrong. The crim will still feel he is being chased, because he is still being chased.

Its a fact of life as the police can often be hung out to dry. So they need to protect themselves.

[vztrt]

As long as the moron doesn't kill an innocent person then I have no problem with them ending up in a box. It sounds wrong but people need to admit if they have been doing the wrong thing. I believe in second chances (to a point) but trying to get away throws that out the window.

The Police (along with the Ambo's) get to see the aftermath of what happens I doubt they would want the person they're chasing to die. But I guess certain genius think that pointing the finger at the police and crying over morons is the correct way to go.

[Kryton]

Runners should consider themselves lucky that this isnt America where the Police wipe you out and take you off the road intentionally.

Run = get what you deserve.

[Jim Goose]

So they crashed and nearly killed themselves.... and the drama is?
If they had their lights turned on...
If they didnt run from Police when the lights come on...

Its called making a choice and living with the consequences....
The Cops are out there doing their JOB, its what Police do!
Why is it so hard to understand that concept?

[Ben73]

If the car is not stolen then no point chasing it at all. Rock up to their house later and arrest them.

Or if can't do that then attempt a form of road block.

[ThaFlash]

also, what i listened to through the scanner, the police, if availbale called the airwing, dog squad if the car was abandoned, unmarked units often followed them at a distance too.

[Resurrection]

Originally Posted by buggo_gt

If your looking for someone to defend the drivers being pursued, maybe you should try ls1.com.

I am not defending the criminals. Just merely posting a topic for discussion. The police have a set of guidelines which are becoming increasingly stringent which favours the criminals.

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news...224-19767.html

[tweeked]

Think about it - if someone takes off to try and get away, and within 30-60 seconds (as the police generally claim) the chase is called off, do you seriously thing the offender slows down straight away? More likely they stay into it for at least a couple of minutes, spending half the time looking at the rear view mirror.

Stop looking to blame the police or find a conspiracy - it is the moron who is running that you should concentrate all of your attention on.

[Dave3911]

Originally Posted by Brazen

there is a lot of naivety in this thread, as soon as a chase is called off, the police dont just turn around and go home. They are still allowed to 'respond' with lights and sirens to the fleeing vehicle. The police are still chasing the car, but its no longer called a pursuit so their ***** are covered in case something goes wrong. The crim will still feel he is being chased, because he is still being chased.

Its a fact of life as the police can often be hung out to dry. So they need to protect themselves.

Without getting into too many specifics about police pursuit procedure... as far as Victoria is concerned your statement is totally untrue. Any vehicle directly involved in the pursuit must immediately come to a complete stop and disengage their lights/sirens. There is never a question if a pursuit has been terminated or not, as a clear "siren" is played over the police radio.

Lets also not forget that as far as the metro area is concerned for pursuits all vehicles are also GPS tracked (Which does include distance over time for speed comparision after the fact) & the members involved know this. All pursuits that end in an injury collision are investigated by ethical standards - any "Continue to respond" after the fact is a serious issue.

Does it still happen? Probably, yeah. But as far as Victoria (especially metro, outer-metro area) i'd say it is extremely rare..... As soon as GPS tracking is state-wide (around 2014-2015 they are saying), it'll be non existant.

[ThaFlash]

i wasn't gonna say this but I will....

out of all the times the pursuits were called off while i was listening the scanner, all the offender had to was drive into oncoming traffic and the pursuit was all over.

it's as if the crims know, if want you to stop being chased, head into oncoming traffic, and the 251 or 252 can't remember (snr sarg or similar) will say "terminate pursuit" over the air.

[ryanstev]

Originally Posted by ThaFlash

it's as if the crims know, if want you to stop being chased, head into oncoming traffic, and the 251 or 252 can't remember (snr sarg or similar) will say "terminate pursuit" over the air.

The criminals DO know, the media has made sure of that, they drive especially dangerously on purpose so the chase gets called off.

The problem is 30 seconds after the cops decide it's too dangerous to keep chasing, the idiot in the car is still driving like that and then find out for themselves just why the cops decided to call off the case.

[geckoGT]

Originally Posted by Ben73

If the car is not stolen then no point chasing it at all. Rock up to their house later and arrest them.

Or if can't do that then attempt a form of road block.

Nice in theory but impossible in practice.

How are the cops to know if the registered owner of the car is driving it at the time when they have seconds to decide to chase or not?

Not all cars that are stolen are reported immediately. Example, my car was stolen in 1995 twice and it was not reported immediately either time. The first I parked it at Perth Zoo in the morning on a sunday and it was not until about 6 hrs later that I noticed it missing, it then took me another hour or two to get a taxi and get to a police station to report it. The second time I was working a nightshift at the military hospital in Ingleburn NSW and parked it in the staff car park. 12 hours later I received a phone call from the police informing me my car had been located in fairfield after they had chased it and had to call off the chase due to speed. I had no knowledge my car was even missing. The state my car was in I wish the cretins had of crashed and written it off, instead of stripping it and leaving me with months of repairs and a car that was never the same again.

You need to realise that in many chases, the car is not reported stolen yet and a large number of chases involve cars that are not registered or driven by their registered drivers. People in their own car tend to pull over as they know the cops will get the plate and turn up at their house.

[au2000]

at the end of the day, the driver always has the choice, if the lights come on you either stop or go, if you go you're a fool who usually survives but kills or injurers others......most drivers stop, why? because at the end of the day like it or not, we OBEY the law.... those who don't usually know the local police station well....

[Scott]

Cops get a rough enough deal as it is.... if pursuits were done away with, they would need a payrise as compensation.

[Skeg37]

A man with experience is never at the mercy of a man with a theory.