Free Republic

We have become a nation of onlookers. We have our news programming interrupted with alerts of high speed chases on interstates. We salivated when we watched OJ's car going ever so slowly on the southern California freeway. We watch President Bush's motorcade when it's going somewhere. We don't really know which vehicle he's in because there's an entourage of big black SUVs. And now, all the presidential candidates have picked up that color scheme. It's a ploy, folks! They think it makes them look presidential, therefore get more votes. Not when empty suits and (as one Freeper said this morning)...

Tuesday, September 11, 2007 High-speed car chases by police on highways, or even on residential streets, have become a staple of television news. An estimated 500 people died as a result of high-speed car chases last year. Nearly half the people killed were innocent third parties. The police have some tough choices to make when deciding when to chase and when to let the driver continue on his high-speed way. Innocent people can get killed either way. Too many people in the media do not want to face up to any tough choices. Whenever some innocent driver or pedestrian is...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday gave police officers significant protection from lawsuits by suspects who lead them on car chases. The justices ruled 8-1 against Georgia teenager Victor Harris, who was left a quadriplegic after a police vehicle rammed his car off the road in 2001. A police officer used "reasonable force" when ramming the teen's speeding car, the high court ruled. A videotape of the pursuit played a key role in the decision. "The car chase that [Harris] initiated in this case posed substantial and immediate risk of serious physical injury to others," Justice Scalia...

Scores of criminals might have eluded immediate capture had a controversial new plan to limit Houston police vehicle chases been in effect in the past 18 months, department records show. Police Chief Harold Hurtt's proposal, set for a hearing Monday at City Hall, would restrict his officers from engaging in lengthy pursuits when a fleeing motorist's only known crime is a Class C misdemeanor, such as a traffic violation. That was the reason officers gave for almost half the chases recorded in the past year and a half. Yet when those chases ended and suspects were questioned, 40 percent said...

Suspect expected a 'free pass' from officers Deputies say he mistakenly thought HPD's no-chase policy would let him flee A driver trying to evade authorities thought a recent change in the Houston Police Department's chase policy would help him get away, authorities said. But he was running from a different agency. Regardless, the controversial HPD policy restricting when officers can chase fleeing suspects has been put on hold. "I think this is an absolute perfect example of the mind-sets that are out there," warned Hans Marticiuc, president of the Houston Police Officers' Union, a vocal opponent of the proposed policy...

"labels GPS" to fight against the hit and run offences Los Angeles - the police force of Los Angeles will obtain a launcher of "étiquettes GPS" to track the motorists in hit and run offence. She thus hopes to reduce the risks incurred by her men at the time of track races at high speed. According to the chief of the police force of the city, William Bratton, the police cars of the Californian megalopolis will be equipped soon with launchers compressed-air, which will project adhesive "labels" on the vehicles of suspects taken in hunting. These "labels" contain a...