It is common for Hollywood to glamorise high speed police chases, often depicted with police vehicles speeding through the streets with sirens blaring and the offender always being caught without incidence, however this depiction could not be further from the truth with police chases often having serious consequences and the outcome often far from ideal. It is due to these less than ideal outcomes that the media and public at large often call for the practice to be banned or for further regulations to be imposed. This essay will look at police pursuits, it will explore their effectiveness and why they are initiated. It will also be asked whether the practice is safe for all those involved, police, offenders and the public at large. In conclusion it will be asked whether there is a viable alternative to high speed police pursuits and whether the practice should be allowed to be continued. It is first worth looking at the way a pursuit is defined, ‘Pursuit may be defined as an active attempt by a law enforcement officer on duty in a patrol car to apprehend one or more occupants of a moving motor vehicle, providing the driver of such a vehicle is aware of the attempt and is resisting apprehension by maintaining or increasing his speed or by ignoring the law enforcement officer’s attempt to stop him’ (May & Headley, 2008).
This is a quote from a Royal Canadian Mounted Police training video from an officer involved in a death relating to a high speed police pursuit “let’s face it, you’re driving around a big bullet, and it can kill...To take human life over a $40000 vehicle? It’s wrong for him to be there, it’s wrong for him to be in the stolen vehicle, it was wrong for him not to stop when he was initially instructed to stop, but it...
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There has been a lot of statistics that have been recorded on the topic of police pursuits. In the 1998 Pennsylvania Police Pursuit Report, there were a total of 1,900 pursuits. The pursuits have raised from 1, 880 chases in 1997 to twenty more in 1998. Most of the pursuits did not end up in any type of collision. There was also a very small injury rate that was shown in...
Law Enforcement Action Forum Newsletter. State of Michigan, City of Jackson, Oct 2001. Web. Oct. 2001
Police brutality is a very real problem that many Americans face today. The police carry an enormous burden each day. Police work is very stressful and involves many violent and dangerous situations. In many confrontations the police are put in a position in which they may have to use force to control the situation. There are different levels of force and the situation dictates the level use most of the time. The police have very strict rules about police use force and the manner in which they use it. In this paper I will try to explain the many different reason the police cross the line, and the many different people that this type of behavior effects. There are thousands of reports each year of assaults and ill treatment against officers who use excessive force and violate the human rights of their victims. In some cases the police have injured and even killed people through the use of excessive force and brutal treatment. The use of excessive force is a criminal act and I will try and explore the many different factors involved in these situations.
It is a myth to believe that an officers job is spend fighting dangerous crimes, in reality officers spend more time handing smaller cases. For example, police officers spend a lot of time doing daily tasks such as giving speeding tickets and being mediators in disputes (Kappeler & Potter, 2005). Handing out speeding tickers and handling minor disputes are far from fighting crime. Police officers spend more time doing preventive measures (Kappeler & Potter, 2005). Preventive measures involve officers intervening to prevent further altercations. Victor Kappeler and Gary Potter discussed the myth of crime fighting as invalid and misleading notions of an officer’s employment.
As taught in the lectures, it is impossible for police officers to win the war against crime without bending the rules, however when the rules are bent so much that it starts to violate t...
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It is important to understand the root causes behind why police pursuit and high speed chases are such
Police Behavior during Traffic and Street Stops. 2011 . Retrieved November 18, 2013 from: http://www.bjs.gov/index.
Over the years, this country has witnessed many cases of police brutality. It has become a controversial topic among communities that have seen police brutality take place in front of their homes. Officers are faced with many threatening situations everyday forcing them to make split second decisions and to expect the worst and hope for the best. Police officers are given the power to take any citizens rights away and even their lives. With that kind of power comes responsibility, that’s one major concern with the amount of discretion officers have is when to use force or when to use lethal force. The use of excessive force may or not be a large predicament but should be viewed by both the police and the community.
Law enforcement agencies across the nation engage in high-speed vehicle pursuits daily, which often result in property damage, serious injuries and even death. Approximately 1 out of every 100 pursuits ends death, with approximately 42 percent of the deceased being innocent bystanders (Hill, 2002). Police pursuits that end in death, injury, or even property damage impact the lives of many. When a pursuit ends in death or injury to an innocent party, this can cause drastic changes in the family and friends of not only the suspect involved, but also the innocent bystander or officer that was injured or even possibly killed (Schultz, Hudak & Alpert, 2010). This has caused concern among the public, but should also concern law enforcement
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The Web. The Web. 15 Mar. 2014. The 'Standard' of the 'Standard'. Gul, Zakir, Hakan Hekim, and Ramazan Terkesil. “Controlling Police (Excessive) Force: The American Case.”
If you've ever seen a movie with a high speed chase, or footrace against the cops, where the person outsmarts the police and gets away; then you've most likely imagined yourself in the same action filled position. Then you sadly realize that this isn't real life, and if you were really being chased, you would most likely end up being caught. In most cases, this is the truth, but if you know a few crucial steps to outrunning the law, prior to the chase, than your chances of escaping will increase greatly.
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