Proper Police Chase Procedure

I was recently listening to my home scanner. I heard a police chase in a neighboring county.  The officer was in pursuit of a motorcycle who was clocked at 103 mph.  Now normally the police turn on their sirens and lights and the chase is on.  I was not prepared for what happened next.

The officer turned off his siren and lights,  slowed to a safe speed.  He then proceeded to radio ahead to officers on down the road.  The motorcycle was occupied by two people a man and a woman.  I don’t care who you are 103 mph on public roads is way too fast.  It is way, way to fast on a motorcycle, let alone with a passenger.  I know,  I have been guilty of doing 105 mph, with a passenger and pulling a trailer.  HOW DUMB WAS THAT?  (I was on a fairly un-busy interstate). But still a dumb thing to do.   Let’s face it we have seen enough motorcycle accidents with riders obeying the law.  Some to their  own fault, and others because of other driver’s errors.  But, factor in the increased speed, and you have really increased your chances of injury.  I don’t think I have to go into the obstacles that you can face which give you a problem at normal speed,  but at high speed even a lesser obstacle causes greater danger.  We don’t like a little gravel, or a pot hole,  even at 30 mph.  But imagine at 103 mph.  A normal curve in the road becomes a lot harder to negotiate at these speeds. 

I remember seeing one rider on a very busy interstate loop around a city,  4 lanes wide,  he was riding in shorts, no shirt, and thongs, or as the younger people call them flip flops, on his feet.  Sounds like a newbie, right?  As if this was not bad enough he was texting on his phone,  at 85 mph.

Back to the officer who chose to slow, and call ahead.  The offending rider was stopped in a town a few miles down the line, where he had slowed to the proper speed.  The stopping officer held him until the County Mountie, who had originated the call arrived, and proceeded to write the proper tickets.

I applaud this officer, for his use of common sense.  Unlike many of his fellow officers he avoided putting himself and others in danger of a high speed chase.  The offending rider, according to the time from the officer backed off and the time to the town where he was stopped had apparently slowed his speed to a much safer one.  No one injured, no innocent people unnecessarily put in harm’s way.

What I don’t understand is why more police do not exercise this same logical thought.  They have helicopters, and more technology to follow these people and end the chase with less mayhem.  In my state  it is illegal to have a scanner in your car unless you are a ham operator or a few other exceptions.  But I for one can attest to the fact had I been able to have a scanner in my car,  I could have reported the sighting of a car used in a robbery.  I seen the car operating a “little erratically”, not really badly.   I had my cell phone.  I could have called it in and directed the police to where we were.  Heck I could have followed him a little while.  But because it is illegal to have a scanner in my car,  I was home listening on my home scanner when I found out about the robbery and the car the police were looking for.  This is just another resource that could be available to police.   We all know the criminal doesn’t care if having a scanner is illegal.

Kudos to the County Mountie for using PROPER CHASE PROCEDURE.  Even if it was not the prescribed procedure used by most police departments.

That Is How I See It

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