Thomas Sowell: Swing and a miss! Part 3

I have to come back to this article one more time...

When there is a police helicopter overhead, a shot straight down would have little chance of hitting some innocent bystander.

Please correct me if I am wrong, but is a Harvard educated Ph.D suggesting police rain down a hail of bullets from the sky at fleeing vehicles?

It is unnecessary for me to argue against this. Sometimes my job is easy.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.sowell12sep12,0,1832983.story

Thomas Sowell: Swing and a miss! Part 2

As mentioned before, Thomas Sowell's editorial was published on September 12 and included this nugget of wisdom:

Moreover, once there is a known policy of letting speeders escape, there will almost certainly be more speeding to get away from being arrested for a traffic violation or a more serious crime.

I don't know where to begin.

First, when the police do not chase a driver who fails to pull over does not mean he will get away. Technology available to find a car if a license plate number is attained, the ability to deploy helicopters as well as other modern police tactics does not mean we lose if the suspect becomes out of sight to the officer.

Next, Sowell implies that there is a whole segment of the population that once a department modernizes their policy, will resort to anarchy. False. People either listen to the police when spoken to, or they don't. Regardless, harsh penalties are a more then viable deterrent. This is one reason why PursuitWatch not only advocates safe pursuits, but harsh penalties as well.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.sowell12sep12,0,1832983.story

Thomas Sowell: Swing and a miss!

On September 12, Thomas Sowell, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institute at Stanford University, wrote an editorial concerning police pursuits. He wrote:

We have no way of knowing whether reckless speeders would slow down if the cops didn't follow them when they tried to get away. The people they can kill when there is no police car following them will be just as dead as some innocent person killed as a result of a car chase.

I would ask Mr. Sowell this question: Which do you think is safer, one car driving dangerously through our city streets, or that same dangerous car followed by 10 police cars driving at the same speed? According to Dr. Alpert at the University of South Carolina, 40% of police pursuits end in accidents. Is the percentage the same for speeders Mr. Sowell? No.

Read the editorial in the Baltimore Sun here:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.sowell12sep12,0,1832983.story

Read Part II

Read Part III