That should wrap it up Bill, well stated, from someone who has "been
there and done that." Monday morning quarterbacking is just too easy,
and also meaningless.
Tom
Phyllis Fields wrote:
>
> Fellow Racers,
> For the first time I feel that a reply is necessary!
> The public has a right to police protection administered by fair and
>reasonable officers. Policy produced by
> the administrators of the police dept. or those mandated by our elected
>officials do not insure competent
> police services. Chase policy can help or hurt the community based upon the
>nature of the incident which
> causes the police to break any traffic regulation inclusive of speed.
> A response by police, which merits exceeding the speed limit or
>disregarding any traffic law, should be
> limited to those incidents in which the risk to human life and limb is
>increased by failure to respond urgently.
> How fast should an officer respond to the call of an histerical female who
>can't explain her problem to the
> police dispatcher? On arrival I located her three year old at the bottom of
>the pool, yes I drove above the
> speed limit, but not fast enough. Nightmares remind me of that day, but the
>child's mother is the person who
> suffers the most. Things might have been different had my response been
>faster, but then again if it was too
> fast could another death have occurred? I'm sure only God knows, and only God
>makes the final judgement
> of my actions.
> Police responses can have severe consequences. The security office of
>Dadeland Mall reported a gunshot.
> The call came during the afternoon rush hour, traffic conditions warranted a
>cautious drive to the scene. Five
> Columbian drug family associates entered the liquor store armed with machine
>guns and destroyed the life of
> the store owner and two clerks, the attackers were chased but evaded us in
>traffic on Kendall Drive. We
> were not willing to risk a rush hour collision. Subsequent investigation
>revealed that the store owner owed
> money for several kilos of cocaine, but the families of the clerks don't find
>closure easy when the killers are
> never caught. Neither do the police feel that they have served to the best of
>their abilities when someone with
> the propensity to kill evades arrest. The need to arrest a violent criminal
>sometimes outweighs the general risk
> to public safety. Perhaps a motorist who saw me driving to the scene was
>offended by my violation of the
> speed limit, maybe they felt that I was in a hurry to get to the local Duncan
>Donuts. My apologies to anyone
> whom I offended.
> Many years ago Ed Young was one of my better friends. Ed rode partners
>with Al Goodall on the midnight
> shift. I was several blocks behind them in a chase of two robbers on Dixie
>Highway, there was a lack of
> traffic and the weather was clear. No condition exhisted that would have
>deterred us from a high speed
> chase. The 440 Plymouth cruisers were gaining on the subject when the tire on
>Ed's side of the car blew out,
> something a new police radial is not supposed to do. Later a review board
>found the chase to be justified,
> but that did not make it any easier, several hours after the accident, when I
>knocked on the door of his house.
> When you bring a nurse to baby sit the kids at 2 AM, the wife knows why you
>are at her door, you can tell
> by the look on her face that she has just discovered her greatest fear, long
>before you have found the courage
> to speak the words. Ed may be gone, but he left me with a lesson. If you
>respect your family, don't place the
> person they love the most at risk without just cause.
> Some of your comments reflected that police can't use their weapons in
>crowds, I have no knowledge of
> any such law or regulation. Moreover I have had experiences that dictated the
>use of a firearm in a crowd.
> One such circumstance took place during the riots in Miami, it saved someones
>life. Another involved a knife
> weilding robber on a metro rail train platform, shot to save a 70 year old
>tourist, who probably could not have
> survived another stab wound. For those of you who have never had to kill
>another human being up close,
> consider that your shot also endangers you. How? well without to much detail,
>consider that in a close up shot
> blood and bone fragments from the subject spray back on the officer who fired
>the shot. Not something you
> can treat without fear in these days of AIDS. The risk is something you must
>put aside when you swear to
> support the Constitution and protect the life of our citizens.
> Another racer stated that they would be glad to see the police sued. I
>must look at the situation the same
> way. The courts are necessary to protect the public from unnecessary and
>unwarranted police action. If you
> feel the police should not be subject to suits at law, then you should seek
>to have a government that supports
> that position. There are places you can move to that disallow suitsagainst
>police, China and Russia are
> examples.Suits in the USA insure the airing of complaints in a public forum
>to protect our civil rights.
> Police officers who take improper actions or enter into chases which
>endanger the public need to be
> corrected as soon as possible in their career, before they make an error
>which takes a life. Suits require
> cause, and if the cause is pain, injury or death a judgement will not undo
>the physical damage. Complaints of
> reckless actions should be reported to police supervisors. The nature of
>police work and the freedom of the
> police to patrol the community removes the police officer from direct contact
>with his superiors. Therefore a
> citizen interested in the well being of the public at large, should report
>possible police errors to police
> supervisors. If the public fails to take action, bad police become worse.
> One of my last internal affairs cases as a detective sergeant was the
>"Miami River Cops Case". These
> lawless officers caused the death of several persons. They could never have
>committed many serious felonies
> if they had been reported when they were first driving recklessly after their
>victims.
> The point is that only the officer involved in a chase knows if the
>chase is justified, and even he may not
> know all the facts. In my 32 years as a cop, (patrolman to detective to shift
>commander), I never knowingly
> took an action which placed the public in a higher state of danger. Nor did I
>as a supervisor allow any
> subordinates to endanger the public without proper justification. As a police
>officer one learns reasons to
> avoid unnecessary danger. When danger can't be avoided a police officer
>usually suffers some pain as a
> result. When you look at a police officers decorations (service ribbons)
>realize that they have been "paid for"
> with pain and blood. If you as an officer have been awarded a silver
>commendation it represents a risk or an
> injury you had to take for to protect someone else. I fortunately was never
>awarded a gold commendation,
> the gold award is always presented to your heirs. Before I drove my vehicle
>at speed, I considered the fact it
> might earn me a gold medal. My observations have lead me to believe that no
>intelligent officer will drive or
> discharge a weapon without proper cause. In contrast to this viewpoint are
>the numerious police video shows
> on TV that demonstrate the number of absolute idiots hired as policemen by
>various jurisdictions.
> Rather than voicing myself on the LSR net, I realize that if I want to
>promote proper police actions there
> are four easy corrections I can make as a citizen.
> 1) I can support my police department in their efforts to acquire and
>train the best possible new recruits.
> 2) I can express my feelings on crime, punishment and criminal
>restitution to the political leaders of my
> government.
> 3) I can report suspect violations of police ethics and regulations to
>the proper police officials for proper
> investigation.
> 4) I can stop bending everyones ear on the land speed net since they
>are here to talk about racing, not
> police work.
> Goodnight, from Bill Mackey
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