Letter to the Editor
Legal pursuit?
Published Friday, April 11, 2008
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To the editor:
I was horrified and outraged to hear that one of our highly regarded police protection services chased a teenager at 120 mph for something so minor as driving a vehicle without a front bumper.
What if one of them would have lost control at such a high speed?
I thought that it is illegal for law enforcement to do that for anything as minor as this. Shame on them!
Community Discussion
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Josie, we simply CANNOT permit bumperless vehicles in this Borough!! If we permit bumperless vehicles, then the next thing you know, they'll want to roll their windows down, too! And ride with dogs, or other people.
We simply CAN'T have bumperless vehicles. I'm sure that you understand that by now. It's for the children, after all..
And besides, the good police officer got his man, err... boy, err.... driver, err... citizen. Oh, what ever!!
I only hope and pray that the young man learned a valuable lesson. That's right; buy a bumper. $150.00 at your local junk yard can save you from having to choose between a fix-it ticket, and numerous felonies..
Carry on!!
i wanted this one, *chuckles to self*,
if they were chasing someone for a pointless reason, why pray tell, was someone FLEEING for a pointless reason?
if it was just a missing bumper (which having one is the law, by the way) then why was mr. innocent fleeing to begin with?
nope!! no sympathy here... throw the book says i. tired of irresponsible drivers, yoda says.
"I'm very fortunate do be surrounded by such stupidity" - Elaine from Seinfeld
Obviously the poor guy ran because he knows people get sent to Gitmo -- or worse, Abu Ghraib -- for missing front bumpers.
Don't you ever read the Internet?
wow, i dont even know how to respond to that...
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I'm absolutely amazed that red blooded Americans have allowed ourselves to forget that there are laws in place for a reason. Furthermore we have allowed ourselves to make countless excuses for those who violate the law.
This young man, had he simply pulled over, would have received a "fix it ticket" and been on his way. Instead everyone wants to blame the Po Po for doing their job. WOW. Yet you expect them to be at your rescue at a moments notice or complain when someone cuts you off and they weren't there.
Amazing.
Way to go Troopers in Delta - Your getting it done.
God bless and be safe.
And Stealheadak - what's you point with that link. Four minutes of video of an event we know nothing about. It's not clear if weapons were displayed by the offender, it's not clear if somehow they learned he was wanted for who knows what, we just don't know all the facts.
akatving -- I pulled that link because it's off-topic.
So, I'm just curious, should we have a list of laws you can break that it's ok to run from the police on? Maybe I'm naive, but I would guess that a few murderers and rapists on the lamb have been caught on traffic stops...maybe even for committing a violation as simple as having a missing bumper.
If you think about an issue for three seconds before knee-jerking a reaction, you may not have completely considered the entire subject, folks.
Twelve years ago or so a high school student was killed due to a high-speed pursuit around town. Is the risk worth it?
This town is too small to hide for long. If a trooper can get a positive id on the car they should not endanger the public by continuing pursuit. This one turned out OK, but the next one might not.
I only posted the link so that some might see what can happen if you run from the police. The same scenario has played out many times in Alaska . If the penalty for eluding the police is death, We are doing a great job. Anyone with kids who drive should assure them that getting a ticket is minor compared to the possible consequences of running.
Running from the police is a darn good way to make them think you're up to no good. That's why there was a pursuit. Put yourself in the Troopers shoes....just a ruitine traffic stop to let some kid know he should probably get his bumper fixed....and he bolts? What the heck??? Anyone would automatically start to think there's something more to the situation, and that kid was up to something. If he had done nothing wrong, why would he speed away at 120 mph and try to elude the trooper? Think before you act people!!
No doubt they pursued him because he fled, suggesting that he was involved in something much more serious.
For example, he could have had a dead polar bear in his trunk which was subjected to fluorinated water experiments and was killed by a drunken snowmachiner.
Jokes aside, the police did the right thing.
I think it's crazy logic that the police use... "He's running, so he must be invilved in something serious"... that's crazy. What if the kid was scared? What if he was worried about the reaction of his parents? ect? I know the kid should not have run, but unless the cops had probable cause for something more serious (the fact that he is fleeing is NOT probable cause), they should not endanger the public with a high-speed pursuit.
FYI-
Warren Jeffery (Spelling) was caught on a traffic stop. So was Timothy McVey, and he didn't even run.
Come on all you racing fans if you had the legal right to get involved in a 120 mph chase, wouldn't you do it? The cops are just having fun. And as a bonus they get to slap the cuffs on too.
Dealing with cops, 101 ---
1) Never ever run. If you do, they will catch you, and you will get it even worse.
2) Never offer information. If you do, they will use it against you, and you will get it worse.
3) Never be rude or belligerent. If you do, you run the risk of being pepper-sprayed or tased, and you will get it even worse.
Always remember, in many situations it will be your word against theirs, and in court, their word will be a lot closer to gospel than your own.
Class dismissed.
*chuckle*
"Way to go Troopers in Delta - Your getting it done.
God bless and be safe."
What a joke....
The only crimes the troopers solve in Dela are traffic crimes. After 4:30 they are home watching tv, unless its a holiday and they sit down the road from a bar. If that made it home the whole family (15-20) would have lied to who was driving it.
The fact that the kid decided to run, if I'm a police officer, would lead me to suspect that that kid had done something much worse than driving without a bumper. What if the driver was drunk? What if he had stolen items or a suspended license? What if he had drugs or a murder weapon in the vehicle? This kid obviously didn't, but since he didn't, WHY RUN!!!??
People who are truly innocent don't run from the police. This kid did, probably because he was scared. Anyone around here ever done something stupid when they were scared? It still doesn't mean the cop shouldn't have chased him.
"Fisher is accused of shooting Mason to death on May 13, 2004, then mutilating as well as dismembering the corpse afterwards. On June 25th of that year, after a car registered to Fisher was impounded after a pursuit with Alaska State Troopers, a pursuit in which Fisher and another person would escape on foot, Troopers found a human head, an assortment of knives, axes, a machete and a mason jar containing the tattooed flesh of an arm and a human ear. Further investigation revealed the human parts as that of David Mason."
Check out this website for more: http://wordsfromafrozenmind.blogspot.com...
Here we have a pursuit, here in Fairbanks, where the cops chased the suspect and found parts of a dead body in the trunk. I don't know if they had a taillight out or what, but some folks on this board say the cops don't solve any crimes, then others say they shouldn't chase anyone. In this case, a murderer might have gone free if they hadn't chased him and gathered that evidence. I wonder if he was free right now, would he have lived next door to you or me.....?
The moment someone runs from the cops they commit a crime right in front of them. If we don't want them to enforce crimes, we should call our legislators and remove the laws from the books, eh?
I heard about that dude driving around with a head in his trunk some time (days?) before the cops found him. I thought the people I was talking to had just been up too many days doing meth.
I was wrong.
Meth is bad, mkay?
Simple. You run, they chase. Don't run, take responsibility for whatever you did.
One comment, One point:
There are COUNTLESS drivers that are pulled over for "pointless" reasons, run from the officer, and then are found to be under the influence of alcohol/drugs. So, if you ask me, that "pointless" reason the officer pulled over that citizen, may have saved a life.
If those teenagers had NOTHING to run for, they wouldn't have run. PLAIN AND SIMPLE!
akprincess72: It's not that simple. Over the years, a lot of police departments have reexamined their policies regarding high speed chases. Many people have died during these chases, and some of them just happened to be on the road at the wrong time. And sometimes drivers--especially teenagers--do run for no reason at all except that they are scared and stupid. Of course I would like to see those people pulled over and I would like to see them lose their licenses, but I don't want anyone to die over it. Especially if it's just some innocent guy who chose the wrong time and place to walk his dog.
On the other hand, sometimes people flee because there's a head in the trunk, so it is a hard call. It would be interesting to know what the troopers' guidelines are for these situations.
For those of you who think this is a simple, black and white issue, how would you feel if one of your loved ones died in a collision with a fleeing suspect, and it turned out that he was guilty of nothing more serious than lacking a bumper and evading arrest? Would you feel that the police had acted sensibly? Would you wonder why they hadn't just ID'd the car and tried to find it again later?
To clarify, I wasn't so much advocating for chases to be authorized as I was for people to own up the their responsibilities & just stop when pulled over.
I do not understand these comments about identifying the car. You cannot arrest or prosecute a car. Just because they find the car doesn't mean they find the driver. All the owner has to say is "I wasn't driving." How can the police prove beyond a reasonable doubt he was? If they don't catch him in the act, there is a strong chance he will get away with it.
And as far as putting other people in danger, depending on the time of day and location, there may have been no one in danger (except the kid committing a felony and cops trying to catch a fleeing felon), so we can't make that judgment until we know all the facts, which we don't. There are times in the early morning when you can drive from Fairbanks to North Pole and not pass another car. (P.S. regarding the felony statement, yes, running from the police at 120 MPH is a felony, so he is a fleeing felon.)
Babylon - If police do not chase fleeing suspects if they drive fast than people would have increased incentives to flee fast, thus increasing the probability of high speed automobile deaths. Every drunk driver would be tempted to do it.
Criminal justice is about providing people with incentives not to commit crimes.
Did anybody else notice that we don't have the ability to comment on the public safety report today?
I wonder if the police got tired of being criticized or if the newsminer staff made some kind of decision on their own...
Anyone from the newsminer staff care to comment on this?
"If police do not chase fleeing suspects if they drive fast than people would have increased incentives to flee fast"
Right. And chasing fast cars sometimes causes them to go faster. Going fast is illegal because it's dangerous, but making them go faster is even more dangerous. Also, it's very important for law enforcement to maintain its authority so that it can operate effectively, but it's also important for the police to protect innocent bystanders from harm. What I'm trying to get across is that this is a complicated law enforcement issue and you guys are all trying to make it sound simple. It's not simple.
"Criminal justice is about providing people with incentives not to commit crimes."
Yes, but it's also about public safety. Hence the "Public Safety Report." Law enforcement priorities are sometimes in conflict with each other, and officers have to make choices. Sometimes they make the wrong choice, and I don't think the letter writer is wrong to ask whether a missing bumper justifies a dangerous high speed chase.
For the record, my own experiences with the police in Alaska have been very good. I have no axe to grind.
I was wanting to know about that too newsreader, I dont comment much but I enjoy reading the comments; especially those left on the Public Safety Report...
As far as identifying the car and getting it later, I'll offer this. I had a pal in High School who loaned his Charger to someone he shouldn't have. The driver got signaled by the police and made a run for it. He got away. This was a small town. The cops knew what every teenager in town drove. They showed up at my buddy's house. He was, in fact, quite sick that night, but the cops weren't buying that story. Took him awhile to clear that mess up (ultimately the culprit fessed up).
This was a dark, rai