1. Mountainman on January 30th, 2006 at 7:44 am
   

   Take her eyes!
2. headshaker on January 30th, 2006 at 8:00 am
   

   I don’t understand why they can’t follow them in a helicopter which can radio the position of the vehicle to the squad cars.

   This is just senseless, and someone’s child is gone.

   You wonder why I shake my head.
3. mrygill2 on January 30th, 2006 at 8:58 am
   

   Short of shooting the car to disable it, then allowing it to careen into innocent bystanders, I don’t see how the chase could have been ended before the 7-minute mark at which the accident happened.

   I think blame belongs with the perp, not the police.
4. Robert on January 30th, 2006 at 9:07 am
   

   A no chase policy gives the criminal the “green light” to take off and still possibly cause a crash. If the criminal gets away, he or she gets to continue doing more crime which could cause greater problems in the future. The police have to use their discretion as to when to take a fleeing car out. That is what they are trained to do, so let them protect us like they are suppose to do. Why do we keep blaming the police, they’re not the ones fleeing, they’re not the ones committing crimes??
5. gregg on January 30th, 2006 at 9:09 am
   

   We have the technology to send a space probe to gather dust from a comets tail and return to Earth but we cant electronically disable a car engine by remote that operates with a computer chip? That makes no sense to me. The capability is there now. Onstar can open the frickin door from space.

   If I were king every new car would have a chip that can be remotely disabled by law enforcement if needed.

   The obstacle would be the usual suspects. The ACLU and the far far right,black helicopter crowd.
6. Ken Kelley on January 30th, 2006 at 2:55 pm
   

   headshaker #2 –
   I suspect that during the whole seven minutes of the chase in question, the police did, indeed, know exactly where the criminals were. I’m not sure the helicopter would have made much of a difference.
7. Ken Kelley on January 30th, 2006 at 3:03 pm
   

   gregg, #5 —
   I’m certainly not part of the ACLU crowd, and I don’t think I’m part of the “far far right, black helicopter crowd”. But let’s think about your suggestion for a moment.
   The ability to disable any given automobile “from space” involves a GPS transmitter. Which, as a practical matter, will have to be constantly transmitting. As in, “at all times”. Are you really prepared to surrender your personal privacy rights, 100% of the time, on the 0.1% chance that your car will be the one stolen?
   Have you ever read George Orwell’s novel, “1984″? It might be worth taking a couple of hours to get a view of the extreme result of what you’re proposing.
8. Dave D on January 30th, 2006 at 3:36 pm
   

   #7 Ken Kelly AMEN
9. gregg on January 30th, 2006 at 3:48 pm
   

   #7. A cop can shoot you dead. But he cant push a button to cut your engine if you take off and start a chase.

   Maybe I wasnt too clear. The car has a micro chip or whatever. The cop has a radar type gun he can put a laser bead on the car hes after. He pushes the button and somehow the laser transfers some code to the cars onboard computer shutting the engine and all functions down. Chase over. The car cannot continue at 100mph and possibly hit your car killing your family.
10. pmartin on January 30th, 2006 at 3:51 pm
    

    What I am seeing more and more of is people on the steets and freeways ignoring a police siren. When I hear a siren, I start looking around, trying to find where the cruiser is, slow down, move over. Not that I’m saying this lady did ignored the siren, just an observation.

    The police and firemen need our support, not our derision for doing their jobs. They have their hands tied by the mayor and “police” chief.
11. asquires on January 30th, 2006 at 4:31 pm
    

    “When I hear a siren, I start looking around, trying to find where the cruiser is, slow down, move over” The cars today are being made to block out sound. Testing has shown that the electronic sirens cannot be heard as well as the old mechanical ones. This is partaicularly true in fast moving traffic - the sound doesn’t catch up with you. The soft horn of the Metro rail is also nearly impossible to hear. What everyone really needs to be doing is looking around. Keep the eyes moving to the mirrors as well as in front. Put your makeup on at home and hang up that stupid phone. You can’t drive and talk on the phone. That is just as bad as drinking.
12. CRK on January 30th, 2006 at 4:43 pm
    

    I say we arm police with the “deadly space comet dust automobile engine deactivator” as soon as possible. Right after we send that stupid bitch up the river for life. Has Quanell been stickin up for her yet?
13. CRK on January 30th, 2006 at 4:46 pm
    

    Whenever I’m driving and I hear a siren, I immediately slow back down under the speed limit, move to the right, hang up the phone and put my beer down.
14. Rorschach on January 30th, 2006 at 5:14 pm
    

    I still say equip those french eurocopters HPD bought with gyro-stabilized .50 cals similar to those used on the Apache AH-64. A short burst to the hood with AP rounds and the car is not going ANYWHERE, and if the gunner does not provide sufficient lead and he gets the driver too, all the better. In my world, if you run, you are admitting guilt to any number of felonies. Therefore, you have forfieted your right to continue breathing my air. If the cop accidently splatters your worthless brains all over the pavement, it is just a damned shame some poor schmuck is going to have to clean it up, but I sure as hell ain’t gonna shed a tear for your sorry arse. I just hope the poor bastard that gets stuck cleaning up the mess doesn’t catch AIDS cleaning up your blood.

    In this case, it would not have mattered, the chase was too short to have profited from such an arrangement unless he chopper was already on the scene. Perhaps the better way to have dealt with this was not an overt chase with lights and sirens but perhaps a more discrete follow and report while backup was called for. It is possible that the idiot would not have realized they were being followed until they were boxed in, or at the very least bought time for backup to arrive.
15. BoB2 on January 30th, 2006 at 7:34 pm
    

    I’d say get a short rope and a tall tree. Why go through a trial. She was caught in the murder weapon, what’s the point.
16. Candy Priano on January 31st, 2006 at 11:54 pm
    

    What’s so sad is in January alone seven innocent people have been killed in police chases in the U.S. and in another chase an innocent mother’s unborn baby was killed. And these are only the innocent deaths that were reported via Google Alerts.

    Many of you made some good comments. In too many cases you must know that even if the suspect is caught, he or she will most likely be back on the streets before officers finish their paperwork. Today I checked on three suspects in California who were caught in chases within the last two weeks. Two were no longer in jail.

    Why my interest in police chases? A fleeing teen plowed into my family’s van and killed my daughter, Kristie, who was “safely” seat-belted, sitting behind her dad. The fleeing teen went home with her mother while a neurosurgeon told me to pray for miracle. Since the officers knew the identity of this teen and that they would not be able to physically arrest her even if she was caught or killed someone, this situation begs the question: “Why the chase?”

    I definitely blame the fleeing teen for my daughter’s death, but who am I going to trust to care about my safety? A fleeing teen who took her mother’s car without permission, someone who has already broken the law and is now fleeing, or the police? Prior to the chase that killed my daughter, this teen was not speeding and she was not running stop signs.

    I’m for catching the people who flee, and I always have and still support our police officers, but police chases need to be restricted and, more importantly, officers need to follow pursuit policies. You might be surprised to learn that many law enforcement agencies do not require officers to follow their own agency’s pursuit policy. California just passed a law that requires officers to read their pursuit policy. California officers are not required by law to follow their policy, but at least now they need to read the policy.

    Also, the officers’ decision-making needs to begin long before the actual car chase. Before they “light up” a suspect (even for a routine traffic stop), many officers look at their surroundings, decide in advance whether or not the suspect’s violation is worth the risk to the public if he/she should flee. Following doesn’t always work, especially in highly populated urban areas. I have read numerous stories where innocent people were killed and the officers were just following the suspect but suddenly sped up and crashed into an innocent victim.

    Regarding comments about sirens, I have to admit I’m pretty sure I would think the same as some of you if it hadn’t happened to me; that is, why don’t people pull over when they hear the sirens. We never heard a siren or saw lights. We were driving in a very poorly lit residential neighborhood, narrow streets and blind intersections. We were driving on a through street and the teen was chased down a long road where multiple stop signs were ignored. Keep in mind that the fleeing suspect is always the lead car in these chases. Also, there’s the “outrunning the siren” effect that someone already mentioned. Our car that night, with the four of us in it, was relatively quiet, but it was winter and our windows were closed. The last thing I remember was hearing Kristie and her brother Steve laughing – not loud just normal. I looked out into the dark night and thought I was the luckiest mom in the world. And then I heard a dull thud. Since then I have always wondered why we didn’t hear the sirens. I too always pull over when I hear sirens and wait. The other day, I was standing by my car when I heard sirens. I got into my car, closed the door and there was complete silence; I could not hear the sirens. I was in a neighborhood very similar to the neighborhood on the night Kristie was killed.

    My prayers are with Kyndall Batiste’s family. I have linked to your site at http://www.kristieslaw.org/tx.htm
17. precious on March 13th, 2007 at 10:50 am
    

    the baby you guys are talking about is my nieces friend. And yes it was the police fault and its the suspects fault but if they had not chased then it would not have happened whats more important someones life or people crying about criminal getting a green light. they should band chases in high traffic areas what if next time its someone or some child crossing the street to go to work or school. let the nut case run out of gas or get tired eventually the car has to stop it does not run on air. if some one is chasing you your instincts tell you to do what? RUN my point is hell it just a car it is replaceable but that childs life is not. One of two thing will happen when you are driving you will run out of gas or you will get a flat. there is nothing to debate over.

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