Question for Bullit and TC.

[GTARob]

What constitutes a high speed pursuit and how far away from the pursuee do you get before you have to break it off? Also when someone passes you going the other way at a high rate of speed, do you always pursue? Do you just call ahead(or behind) and let others know to watch for them? I was just wondering. "A friend" was doing around 110 going home late on a sunday night when "a friend's" radar went ape shit. "A friend" saw the light bar come on but it disappeared when "a friend" went over a hill. "A friend" expected to be in jail but the lights never came in pursuit of him. "A friend" really means a friend. I just don't wanna be to specific.


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[TC]

At 110mph, the officer knew he couldn't possibly catch up. He probably turned on his lights to see if your friend would stop and make it easy for him. The only time I even go after speeds like that are when I know the violator knows I'm not back there and I have time to overtake you without you knowing. This usually works on the freeway.

[firecop]

I know, I know, but nobody asked me! http://www.3rdgen.org/ubb/biggrin.gif

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An unbreakable toy is useful for breaking other toys.

[GTARob]

If you have input please feel free! I only asked TC and Bullit by name because they work where I live. Please, all opinions welcome!

Robert

[This message has been edited by GTARob (edited 02-26-2001).]

[GTARob]

Bumping to the top

[Bullit]

anything over 100, unless they slow down, i'm not going to catch them. i saw a co-worker stop a car for 149 mph not too long ago so anything is possible. i will at least try, especially on the highway that i work it's nice and flat. i don't recommend driving at these speeds on a public road because you may trust your driving and have faith in your car, but i've seen a car hit a couch at 70 mph in the middle of a highway and it's not pretty. a buddy of mine was killed when he swerved to miss a basketball goal that had fallen on the highway. you cannot foresee what's ahead of you and at those speeds it's too late to make any evasive actions. i've also arrested enough drunks to know that they are out there and they are DANGEROUS! sometimes on the weekends during the midnight shift we would set up on the freeway with one officer clocking in a discreet location and about a half a mile down we would have two officers waiting on the on-ramp for the violator. worked great against racers. we could get them both. plus, if you speed up you just might get hit with an evading charge and that's a class A. just tell your friend it's not worth it.

[Bullit]

as for pursuits, i've been in car chases well over 120 mph and i caught them......it's not about the speed, i caught a stolen 1998 Z28 one night, WITH MY GRANNY CROWN VIC! the problem the suspect has is i can drive the sh!t out of a car.

[TC]

Amen, Bullit. Like I said in another post, cops are some of the best damned drivers I've ever seen. Sometimes I do shit that amazes even myself. Just last night I turned around on a speeder.....I did a U-turn at about 50mph, which would cause most other people to wipe out. I ended up sideways in the other lanes (no cars coming at this point) with my foot still mashing the pedal all the way to the ground. The tires white smoked and I turned into the skid and whipped that heavy ass Crown Vic around on a dime and was off after the violator. Before I became an officer, I'm certain I would have wiped out trying similar shit, even in my Camaro.

[firecop]

Actually in Connecticut you won't see many pursuits at all. Connecticut has a statewide pursuit policy that has very strict guidelines regarding when you can pursue. You cannot pursue for motor vehicle violations only. The supervisor will break you off immediately.

A short run down at 100+ on a limited access highway might fly, but if it goes more than a half mile or so, you'll be broken off.

The same thing on a secondary road would not be allowed to start.

Too many officers and civilians have been killed or injured. Plus our roads are not so straight around here!

[Bullit]

i have a few supervisors that are like that. i also have supervisors that will run the wheels off. i was in a multi-agency chase once where my supervisor and i were the only two left after 5 other agencies were called off. we caught that a-hole too, without incident i might add. i always get close enough to see the plate before i turn on the lights just so if they do run i have them. we have some guys who turn on the lights the minute the car passes. then if they lose it they look like a dope because they're running lights and sirens after a ghost. i don't like them to know i'm there until i'm ready for them to know. i have one supervisor that's real strict. if i have a vehicle going extremely fast and i tell dispatch i'm "attempting to catch up to the car and will be leaving the city" he will sometimes call me off for that. my way around this is to not call out on traffic until the car stops. i've had traffic stops several miles out of my city limits.

[GTARob]

Is that legal? I mean jurisdiction wise are you guys allowed to do that? If the offense occurs in your city, but the offender crosses the city limits can you go after him?