Police Pursuit Liability

One of the most important duties of guard officers is to pr heretoforet wickedness from happening. In the light of this objective, part of the regular duties of police officers is to go on patrol to improve police visibility. As they patrol the community, police officers be in possession of the responsibility to stop motor fomites in skid the number one wood commits a violation of motor vehicle law or in case the driver or his companions engage in suspicious activities.Ordinarily, motor vehicle stops are supposed to last a few transactions later on the driver is issued a employment citation and the driver leaves or ones the officer satisfies himself that no criminal activity is taking place and the driver leaves. there are situations however when drivers of vehicles who are asked to stop attempts to elude the police officers command to stop and flees. In these situations the police officers whitethorn engage in motor vehicle pursuit to arrest the individual either for tra ffic violation or for committing any other crime.While high-speed car chases may be exciting to watch whether in the big screen as part of a movie or live as an unfeigned real-life veritable(a)t being shown on T. V. , it has a lot of consequences. Motor vehicle pursuits lead to damaged properties, injuries and deaths to innocent civilians and even costly lawsuits. (The Christian recognition Monitor 1) It need not be emphasized how dangerous high-speed pursuits are. They are dangerous not only in the freeways in date of the speed at which cars are running but they are even more dangerous in the city where people may be crossing the street every so often.While systematic study of the finis of the dangers of high speed pursuits is scarce, there is sufficient evidence to conclude that they are risky and dangerous to the public. According to a research conducted by Erik Beckman, an swain professor of criminal justice at Michigan State University who has make studies on police cha ses out of the 424 police pursuits done by 75 police departments in 11 states, one in seven pursuits end in an injury and one in 33 resulted in a death. Philip J. OConnor 2) The danger of police pursuits is even highlighted in a pass over of the California Highway Patrol which stated that in 2005 law enforcement officers were confused in 7,942 pursuits that resulted in more than 1,200 injuries to people and 32 deaths. (Jason Dearen 2)The national statistics is even worse as according to the National Highway Traffic gumshoe Administration affirms these findings and stated that more than 350 people die each socio-economic class from police chases. VOA News Supreme Court May Limit patrol in High-Speed Chases 1) In view of the injuries and deaths mostly involving the suspects themselves who flee after police officers have ordered them to stop, the suspects themselves or their relatives have filed suits against the police officers mostly for violating their constitutional rights un der the Fourth and the Fourteenth Amendment.In some cases, even the bystanders and pedestrians injure by the suspects have filed cases against police officers for causing their injury. Some of these cases have resulted in civil liabilities being adjudged against the police department involved. In view of these decisions, police officers have become apprehensive in conducting motor vehicle pursuits. There is therefore a need to set policies on police pursuits.