(This
column was published in the North
Shore News on
May 27, 1998)
High speed pursuits need high tech help
By Leo Knight
DETECTIVE
Constable Mike Simmons of Vancouver Police Department's Youth
Squad nearly lost his life last Friday thanks in part to new
regulations introduced by the attorney general governing how and
when police can initiate a chase of a suspect.
Police
chases have been the subject of much discussion over the past 15
or 20 years.
Not
only here, but all over North America and the world. For lots of
good reasons I might add.
All
too often it is an innocent person in the wrong place at the
wrong time who gets injured and sometimes killed as a result of
the pursuit of a lawbreaker.
The
knee-jerk reaction every time such an incident occurs is to
castigate police, suggesting it was somehow their fault.
The
police, for their part, are loathe to turn a blind eye and do
nothing when they have an eyeball on a suspect.
In
the AG's new policy guidelines police have been virtually
hamstrung in their ability to pursue individuals breaking the
law.
The
bad guys on our streets know this and last week the AG's ideas
came home to roost.
For
over a week Vancouver police have been frustrated by a gang of
punks who have begun to taunt police knowing full well the cops
can't chase them.
The
punks have taken to driving up beside police cars in stolen
vehicles, openly revving their engines and flipping the bird at
the officers.
They
then drive off at high speeds, laying rubber and openly thumbing
their noses at the law.
Last
Wednesday this happened on at least four occasions.
In
three of the four incidents, police did not initiate a pursuit.
In the one case they did, they aborted when speeds reached over
130 km/h.
Police
spokesman Anne Drennan said, "In that case when police
didn't continue with the pursuit, the suspects came back and
circled around and pulled up beside the marked unit."
"They
made it very clear that: Hey. We're back. Let's go," said
Drennan. "They showed a total disregard for the safety of
others."
On
Thursday, the police got a break when they spotted a stolen
vehicle in the parking lot of Killarney school in southeast
Vancouver.
Simmons
and his colleagues tried to block the suspect in. But the young
thug didn't much care.
He
backed into police cars and then smashed forward into the other
cars.
In
the process Simmons had exited his vehicle to affect the arrest
and he was hit by the mindless punk.
As
the youth continued to smash his way out of the police blockade,
Simmons managed to get to his feet and was promptly run over
again. The suspect sped off onto 49th Avenue and narrowly missed
hitting a child at Kerr Street.
He
then smashed the stolen vehicle into a parked car and fled on
foot.
Fortunately,
officers responding to the calls for cover tracked him down and
arrested him at gunpoint.
The
19-year-old brainless wonder now faces numerous charges and
Simmons was treated in hospital for a variety of, fortunately
minor, injuries.
Such
are the ramifications of sending the message to the scumbags of
our fair city that police won't chase suspects in most cases.
Instead
of the belief they will be caught and dealt with severely, they
now know nothing will happen.
Now
they are openly challenging the police and literally laughing at
the cops who have been handcuffed by the AG.
In
1989, John Dixon, then head of the BC Civil Liberties
Association, made the following comment in a letter to the Vancouver
Sun, "We are not categorically opposed to the pursuit
of suspects. In fact, we rather doubt that the police could
perform their essential function effectively if suspects knew
that they could always get away -- at least for the short-run --
with immediate flight."
An
interesting comment from a very unlikely source.
Yet,
that's the message being sent by the NDP.
The
American National Institute of Justice conducted an in-depth
study of police pursuits in 1994.
Its
report concluded, "Continued improvements in technology to
slow or stop a vehicle may reduce risks. The use of helicopters
or fixed-wing airplanes, while expensive, already can allow law
enforcement to monitor a fleeing suspect unobtrusively and alert
ground units when he or she stops. ... in many jurisdictions,
fleeing and eluding a police officer is a minor offence, which
is often dropped or plea bargained.
"Officers
in this study reported strong opinions on sanctions for suspects
fleeing and eluding the police."
A
similar study in New Zealand concluded, "... suggests
police be given greater power to control traffic lights, and
recommends further investigation into use of technology such as
video cameras and Global Positioning Systems (GPS)."
"The
report also recommends police investigate the feasibility of
using air support during pursuits and consider equipping all
front-line vehicles with a set of road spikes."
Both
studies highly recommend the use of helicopters.
They
don't suggest police refrain from pursuits.
On
the contrary, they recommend better and safer ways of doing it,
ways that employ available and emerging technology, not giving
the suspects a free ride, and in a stolen car no less.
But
not here.
You
see these available options cost money.
The
NDP won't spend any money on anything that doesn't help their
union buddies or extol their own dubious virtues.
A
private group is trying to get all municipal councils in the
Lower Mainland to agree on a private/public partnership to get
two helicopters in the air for use by all jurisdictions.
Getting
agreement by all councils is a difficult process and this idea
may not get off the ground.
Pardon
the pun.
The
cost?
Something
in the area of $4 million. The NDP spend 10 times that much
annually in the propaganda drivel they constantly feed an
undeserving public.
Apparently
it's better to let the crooks do what they want.
Let's
hope Detective Constable Simmons and his colleagues can manage
to stay alive until common sense reigns in this province and our
leaders start assuming their responsibilities.
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