Accidents resulting from police high speed pursuits and responses to emergency calls

Accidents resulting from police high speed pursuits and responses

to emergency calls

Introduction

In the society where the law enforcement personnel and the ordinary citizens interact everyday there were situations were both sides must know there present role in a certain area of their responsibility Situations arises when the two respondent will clutch without knowing the essential precaution of taking there proper role in the society

When talking about police high speed pursuits as (Alpert , 1987 , pp 299 states that there is an attempt of the law enforcement officer operating

a motor vehicle with emergency equipment to apprehend a suspected law violator in a motor vehicle , which later question and avoid apprehensions . Danger in both parties of the said pursuits and even in public generally

Today there is a rapid growth of police pursuits which arises the concern of the public . It must be given the priority on how to handle cases on high speed pursuits . Cases involves law enforcement officer will certainly decrease the trust of the public of their security as the they are called to be societies eye for dangers , to resolve problems but in pursuits cases when they themselves involved in that condemn scenario as one of the delinquent element of the society certainly the public will lost all the invested interest of trust among them

Review of Related Literature

History recorded that there sparse on accident rates in high speed pursuits , and that the subject of the research especially noteworthy for its comprehensiveness . In 1980 's research , it is indicated that in every one of five pursuits had brought nationwide damage in property that occurs at this time , in one out of seven there is personal injuries and approximately one out of thirty five deaths is present

In regards to the high speed pursuit by the police officers problems arrives to be in complex form , in some states they enacted legislation that requires its officers to have a written guidelines specifically by there departments with regards to the suspected violators and to the actual pursuit of the exceeding speed limits

The officers still hold the liability of the ordinary negligence . There is an extended absolute immunity for those involve in the high speed pursuits specially the police officers , that provides the not grossly negligent of the officers ( see POLICE OFFICER LIABILITY IN HIGH-SPEED PURSUITS : A STUDY REPORT TO THE MICHIGAN LAW REVISION COMMISSION

Police High Speed Pursuits Statistics Officers Killed 1989-1998 Automobile Accidents 343

Motorcycle Accidents 4

Source : U .S . Bureau of Justice West Virginia Statistics for the same time period (State Police only are Two shooting deaths and one Automobile Death The table indicates that in 1989 to 1998 the automobile accident is half numbered by the traffic accidents in which the officer was killed

Table 2

West Virginia State Police Accidents for 2000

Type of Accident Chargeable to Officer 35

Not Chargeable to Officer 50

Pursuit Accident 13 The table shows that there were 13 cases of pursuit as of 2000 in the...