Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Morning

Having real difficulty getting out of nightshift bodyclock. Its like a three day hangover, not amusing.
For those who hadn't noticed I've fiddled about with the sidebar, have put on a few youtube vids about police pursuits. These are one of the most difficult things to call in the job. Yes they are exciting (hence their proliferation on youtube) but they are dangerous. In the UK even if its just the suspect who gets injured its the officer who was pursuing who gets questioned more. I've heard rumours (anyone know for sure?) that a suspect injured after crashing when he was chased has successfully sued the police- if they didn't chase him, he wouldn't be injured. That wouldn't surprise me in the least.
Police drivers should always be professional about these kind of things but the first one shows we're not always. in the second the driver is calm and controlled and it ends in a good result but was so close to mowing down a pedestrian.
The third shows another lucky escape, this time with a baby involved.
The fourth shows a very terminal end to a pursuit.

I'll try and keep it updated every so often with other examples. The aim is to get people to realise its not squealing tyres and blah but the decision not to pursue can often be a lot more difficult than deciding to.