Tuesday, May 01, 2007

You Make The Call

In 2001, then 19 year-old Victor Harris led Georgia police on a high speed chase through two counties. They reached speeds of over 100 mph, and passed 36 cars, some by crossing double yellow lines. At one point he pulled into a parking lot, but when the cops surrounded him he hit their cars and fled again.
The chase ended when the cops ran him off the road. As a result of the ensuing crash Harris is now a quadriplegic.
The Supreme Court ruled that Harris cannot sue the cops for his injuries because he initiated the chase.
The cops initially tried to pull him over for speeding.
Should the cops pay?
Should the cops be less aggressive in pursuing high speed chases with people who are only wanted for a minor traffic violation?
Is the risk (potential injury), worth the reward (a traffic ticket)?
Should the cops assume that anyone fleeing is wanted for crimes beyond just a traffic ticket?
Or should the jerk who flees the cops be responsible for whatever damage he creates?

I think if the cops want to pull you over, you should pull over. If the cops have to chase you, anything they do is your fault. But I think cops need to be more judicious in initiating chases. I think in a lot of these cases they could go to the guy's house at 6 am on Sunday morning impound the car and arrest him for fleeing a police officer.

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous1:23 PM

    I agree with you. If a cop is on your ass, just do what they want. Sometimes, yeah, they could probably just let the person go and arrest them later...but they dont know if the car was stolen, or someone was kidnapped etc.

    I can't be sure..but I think there was actually a case in NY where a cop crashed and was either killed, or hurt badly...and either he or his family wanted to press charges against the guy being chased away. I think we actually talked about this paul, but I cant remember the details.

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