Police Vehicle Pursuits Essay

Tags: supreme court law automobile liability

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Police Pursuit



The law enforcement system's need of pursuing suspected lawbreakers has, perhaps, existed ever since the very first laws to tackle crime have been written. Right from the era of human traveling on foot to horse-riding to today's motorized transport, it is highly evident that police pursuits may be highly dangerous. The year 2003 witnessed approximately 35,000 pursuits of criminals across America, with 14,000 (i.e. almost 40% of these pursuits) ending in car crashes. No less than 50% of these 14,000 crashes gave rise to injuries. Furthermore, fatalities linked to police pursuits amounted to about 350. The technique and manner of suspect capture, particularly with regard to automobile pursuits, has remained a matter of conflict and criticism among a large number of analysts (O'Connor and Norse). Some, for example, raise questions regarding the reason behind pursuit, stating that an exceedingly large number of administrators and officers cannot state what they had planned on doing after finally catching a criminal they were pursuing. In the absence of a concrete plan, the hunt is likely going to assume "drag race" characteristics. Moreover, onlookers comment that most officers' hot pursuit of suspects looks like a life-and-death situation for them, like it is the very last thing they will ever do. Although people admire the policemen's constitution, many people question the necessity of such pursuits (which are dangerous to other motorists and pedestrians) when the reason behind them is often a small traffic violation.

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In one state, at any rate, not even one in five pursuits is for felonies. Court cases springing from this police activity have grown in the past few years. Different states have widely different case laws, although a majority of state legislatures have ratified and implemented the UVC (Uniform Vehicle Code), applicable to emergency automobiles. In almost all state cases broached in the Article's second section, the court of review has found something with regard to the emergency automobile law of the state and pursuing officers' liability exposure, liability standards, or general applicability to police pursuits.



Court Case



In the Jones v. Philadelphia case, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania State rescinded settled standard, ruling that the police may be held just as liable as the bolting driver. A police pursuit ended in a police car crashing into the complainant's automobile, injuring him and claiming his wife's life. Deriving from the Dickens v. Horner case, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court (trial court) ruled that the case's defendants weren't liable for the escaping driver's acts. Upon appeal, the complainant claimed their pursuers were careless in their pursuit, the police siren wasn't on, the municipality wasn't careful in maintaining automobiles, and the supervisor was careless too and didn't….....

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References


Brown. "301.00 Emergency Vehicle Operations." The Pursuit SAFETY Website for safer & smarter police chases. Web. 3 Oct 2016. http://www.pursuitsafety.org/images/dallas_EVO_8_pages.pdf

"Model Policy." The International Association of Chiefs of Police > IACP Homepage. Web. 3 Oct 2016. http://www.theiacp.org/Portals/0/documents/pdfs/Membersonly/Vehicularpursuitpolicy.pdf

O'Connor, Patrick and William Norse. "Police Pursuits: A Comprehensive Look at the Broad Spectrum of Police Pursuit Liability and Law." Mercer Law Review. 57.Web.http://www2.law.mercer.edu/lawreview/getfile.cfm?file=572031.pdf

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