Police pursing fleeing cars is an essential practise to bring an end to unjust offences and protect the general public. The New Zealand pursuit policy takes place when a driver who has been signalled to stop by police fail to and try to escape apprehension, so police take action to detain the offender (Policepolicy 2010 pg 5).
This is a complex argument as police pursuits are viewed as a danger to citizens involved, causing injury or death. But fatalities are a direct result of drivers’ conducts toward the police and pursuit policy; which is continuously being amended for police to perform efficiently.
(C-Arg1)Research shows that New Zealand has seen an increase of deaths related to this issue. The role of policing on the road is at conlfict with the publics’ safety interests, police continuting lethal force chase policy despite repeat requests from the IPCA to be reassessed. (Policepolicy 2010 p 34). Statistics are rising and have confirmed between 2000 and 2008, 38% were seriously injured and 17% were killed due to the pursuit ending in a crash (Plowman, 2010).
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Those who argue to stop police pursuits, draw attention to the agency of police. This attitude is negated as recorded pursuits in 2009 has seen 28% of those that have been abandoned, which is high from 2008, which was 26% (policepolicy 2010 p 22). The policy and the restrictions put in place, equip officers to deal professionally and safely with a pursuit, indicating these percentages are likely to rise as the policy is
Marques, O. (2013, October 7). Police Operations [Lecture]. SSCI 1000 Introduction to Criminal Justice. University of Ontario Institute of Technology. Retrieved November 18, 2013
A true definition of a police pursuit “occurs when a police officer attempts to stop a vehicle and the driver of the car refuses to obey the officer” (Solgen, 1). At this point, the policeman pursues for the purpose of stopping the vehicle or being able to identify the car. The police officer should most likely be in a patrol car, so that the driver is aware that it is an officer. In a pursuit, the speed may vary. ‘High speeds are potentially more dangerous, but even low or moderate speeds can create substantial risks in congested areas”(Nugent, 1).
Dangers on roadways is an issue that describes the discrepancy between perception and reality of road rage. The media, for some odd reason, tends to make road rage a huge controversial issue. As seen on talk shows from Oprah Winfrey to CNN, they reveal to people that road rage could happen at any time and to always be looking over your shoulder. These talk shows and news programs also put fear into our minds by explaining that most roadragers often use guns to kill or injure their victims. Glassner contradicts the media's speculations by stating that out of approximately 250,000 people killed on roadways between 1990-1997, AAA attributed that one in one thousand was an act of road rage (pg.5).
The term Evidence-Based Policing (EBP) as defined by Frank Schmalleger (2014) in the textbook Criminal Justice Today, is “the use of the best available research on the outcomes of police work to implement guidelines and evaluate agencies, units, and officers”. The evidence is based on the scientific research, and not on assumptions or perceptions made by people’s views on law enforcement agencies. However, there have been assumptions about police work that have been scientifically studied and brought into question. For instance, the approach to implement a preventative measure rather than a reactive approach on crime, and it is safer for two police officers to ride in one car. Evidence-Based Policing
Quinton, P., Bland, N., Miller, Joel (2000) Paper 130: Police stops, Decision-Making, and Practice. London: Home Office
Lewis and Graves v. Thomas are two court rulings related to police pursuits. In both cases, the court ruled that a police officer in pursuit of a fleeing motorist does not intentionally choose to cause harm to a suspect, and resulting injury or death of the suspect is not due to the negligence of the officer and the officer and agency is therefore not liable (Farber, 2007). However, through the multitude of incidents involving police officers in traffic accidents, there is no case law placing liability on a police officer or agency, unless the officer was in violation of departmental policy or grossly negligent, as shown in Haynes v. Hamilton County (Justia.com, 2017). In this case, a sheriff’s deputy pursued a vehicle reaching speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour in dense traffic. The pursuit ended when the suspect vehicle collided with a civilian vehicle, killing three teenagers. The court ruled the failure of the officer to terminate for safety reasons was thereby
In today’s day and age there are so many excuses for distracted driving. Lives are put at risk every time a distracted motorist is on the road, and deaths have increased by a substantial amount in the last ten years. On Thursday, April 26th, 2014 one woman’s bad judgement cost her life (Hastings, 1). Not only was she effected, but her friends and family assuredly felt a pain in their hearts. In the few seconds it took Courtney Ann Sanford to post a few words on Facebook, it was enough to distract her from the road and to drive across another lane and through a median straight into a Truck (Hastings, 1). She was immediately killed. Shortly before her Facebook post, she was sending selfies to her friends (Hastings, 3). This just goes to show
When a motorist expresses offense over the actions of an aggressive driver, the situation can escalate to acts of road
Over the years, this country has witnessed many cases of police brutality. It has become a controversial topic among communities that have seen police brutality take place in front of their homes. Officers are faced with many threatening situations everyday forcing them to make split second decisions and to expect the worst and hope for the best. Police officers are given the power to take any citizens rights away and even their lives. With that kind of power comes responsibility, that’s one major concern with the amount of discretion officers have is when to use force or when to use lethal force. The use of excessive force may or not be a large predicament but should be viewed by both the police and the community.
Each year numerous lives are lost due to careless and irrational driving. The disregard for safe driving has been a predicament to Queensland for years. For many years? police have relied heavily on speed cameras, breathe testing and heavy fines as a deterrent against unlawful drivers. Over the years fatality rates have increased, so Queensland Transport has composed a series of safe driving campaigns. On many occasions the transport department informs and advises the public about the importance of responsible driving. They propagate safe driving through the various channels of the media. Their safe driving campaign is now using effective propaganda aimed directly at speeding; drink driving and tired and reckless driving
No one can deny that driving drink has caused traffic deaths and injuries. Drunk driving is one of the most frequently committed crimes in the United States, killing someone approximately every 48 minutes. Drunk driving is “A time when humans willingly enter cages of glass and steel that move in such great numbers at such terrific speed, that subtle turn of the steering wheel can easily result in death” (Thomas). What possesses a person to get ...
It is a myth to believe that an officers job is spend fighting dangerous crimes, in reality officers spend more time handing smaller cases. For example, police officers spend a lot of time doing daily tasks such as giving speeding tickets and being mediators in disputes (Kappeler & Potter, 2005). Handing out speeding tickers and handling minor disputes are far from fighting crime. Police officers spend more time doing preventive measures (Kappeler & Potter, 2005). Preventive measures involve officers intervening to prevent further altercations. Victor Kappeler and Gary Potter discussed the myth of crime fighting as invalid and misleading notions of an officer’s employment.
Everyday law enforcement personal have the possibility to face dangerous events in their daily duties. In performing such duties a police officer could come by a seemingly ordinary task, and in a blink of an eye the event can turn threatening and possible deadly. When or if this happens to an officer they won’t have
There is a huge misconception that police are out chasing the red-light violator or the burned-out tail light criminal. This is not the case at all. They are protecting the community and chasing serious felons. That is why most cops defend their right to engage in these high-risk pursuits. No police officer wants to try to stop somebody that they believe is good for a crime just to let him walk away. If the person that is being chased is wanted for a crime, not that he is guilty, but just wanted for an investigation, then the police have every right to stop them and to do what is necessary to apprehend them.
“The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status, or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we all believe that we are above-average drivers” -Dave Barry, comedian. The number of accidents over the last ten years have drastically increased, drivers are paying less attention to the road itself. Many individuals behind the wheel of a car believe that their driving does not affect the road conditions, however it always will. The driving habits of today are catastrophic due to the reasoning that the driving will affect other lives through reckless or distracted driving, and disobeying traffic laws.