M.P.D.

As I sit here, watching the pursuit which ended in the death of the passenger riding in the suspect's vehicle, I have to shake my head. Let me be clear, the suspect driving the car, ultimately bears the blame for the injuries of each involved. Had the suspect driver pulled over when the officers first attempted to, then perhaps the woman would still be alive and the others not injured. But............................

MPD has a pursuit policy in place. A policy that attempts to prevent the show we watched from Chopper 5. The policy basically precludes officers from getting involved in pursuits based on the offense and other factors, but the gist is not to chase. From what I understand, and after placing a call or two, the suspect car-jacked someone earlier this month. So, was there a real urgency to actually pursue this cat for the amount of time that he was? Was the police chopper not in the air, observing and updating the officers on the ground? Where was the Lieutenant, advising the officers to back off? Maybe he did, was he ignored by overzealous officers? Why were some officers on the suspects azz, that's a no-no. Can't say we were following from a distance on this one.....

When pursuits end like today's ended, who takes the hit? The crash victim or their insurance company often never goes after the suspect because they have no pockets. They go after the City under the premise that its officers violated the pursuit policy and their actions led to an innocent party being injured. Taxpayers money down the drain. I am not saying the policy was violated, though knowing the policy as I do, and looking at the tape, Doc might as well get ready to cut a check.