Police chases too dangerous
Police chases might be exciting, but they are also risky. Over the years, many chases have ended with wrecked vehicles and lost lives.
After the Act Governing the Use of Police Weapons (警械使用條例) was amended in 2022 to ease some restrictions, the National Police Agency collected and examined statistics concerning the circumstances of police officers’ use of guns from January to October last year.
The data showed that young officers are more likely than senior officers to use their firearms, and in most cases they used them while pursuing people who fled after being stopped for questioning.
It is perfectly normal for police officers to pursue suspects, but as the old saying goes: “Be careful when chasing a desperate foe, because a cornered tiger will lash out,” or, in another version of the same idea: “A cornered dog might jump over a wall.”
Law enforcement officers should be careful about pursuing suspects. Traffic accidents caused by police chases have not only resulted in many officers being injured and their vehicles wrecked, but also hurt innocent passersby, even seriously injuring them or leaving them with brain damage.
Although it is legitimate and necessary to uphold law and order, the authorities should carefully assess the safety aspect of law enforcement and the potential cost of aiming for high performance.
Taiwan’s roads are not wide and are often full of vehicles. Besides, not every driver has great skills and quick reaction time. Even police cars sometimes get hit by other vehicles.
When police officers encounter people or vehicles fleeing for unknown reasons, they should not simply rush after them. The driver might have committed a simple traffic offense or a more serious crime, or be carrying illegal objects or substances.
All kinds of uncertainties and dangers need to be considered on the spot when deciding whether to pursue a fleeing vehicle.
The National Police Agency has not yet established a standard operating procedure or specific training for responding to situations that arise when pursuing suspects, so officers in charge of each unit can only passively urge their subordinates not to chase vehicles.
However, they also require their teams to “perform.” How can police officers hope to solve cases if they do not question or follow potential suspects? It is hard for police officers to know what to do when faced with such demands.
Let us hope that the police will be taught a set of reasonable and objective tactical responses to use when dealing with fleeing vehicles or collisions, rather than blindly and ineffectively shooting at them from behind. That can only result in more serious casualties, while failing to force a vehicle to stop.
Training and equipping law enforcement officers costs the state a huge amount of money. A temporary loss of performance can be made up for with renewed investigation.
If an improper pursuit results in police officers being killed or injured or police cars getting damaged, or even the death or injury of innocent bystanders — which would require state compensation — it would be a major loss to the government’s budget and a lifelong regret for everyone involved. Any such situation must be treated with great caution.
Chen Hsueh-chiang
Taipei
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