Picture this: Last night, a 14-year-old boy stole an earthmover in mid-town Tucson and drove it, with over 25 police units in pursuit, from one side of town to the other. As we watched the live reports on TV, we felt like we were living in Los Angeles, not sleepy little Tucson . . . wow, our own O.J. chase!
And then the police shot the boy, who’s now in critical condition at a local hospital. From the article: “. . . the officers fired at the driver and were not trying to disable the vehicle.”
Well, that’s one way to stop a 14-year-old boy from driving an earthmover, and, sadly, the predictable way.
What I always wonder, when I see police pursuits on TV or read about them in the paper, is why so many cops? Why do 10, 20, or 30 or more police units join in these chases? Are they ordered to join in by supervisors or do they join in on their own? And when large numbers of police get involved in pursuits, is it more or less likely they’ll end up using violence to stop fleeing suspects?
I can’t find anything on the net that directly addresses that last question, but I did find this, from a 1997 Department of Justice report titled “Police Pursuit: Policies and Training“:
. . . the greater the number of police cars the greater the likelihood of injury. Involvement of other police agencies also increased the likelihood of injury.
Of course, that report goes on to say this:
. . . pursuits with one police car resulted in more escapes than chases with more than one police car. . .
Presumably, they’re talking about pursuits where the cops don’t shoot the perp, as opposed to pursuits where the cops do shoot the perp. Because once you shoot the perp, the likelihood of escape diminishes drastically.