Funny, reading the article, I see no mention of a high speed chase,
[RIGHT] {DarkRed}=CMC[/RIGHT]and I ain’t seeing any bodies found in the truck or it’s trunk.
Maybe I need new glasses, get my vision back to 20/20.
CMC fnord!
"Heading to the crime scene Thursday, Postiglione saw a tractor-trailer rig on the road that matched the description of a truck sought in the investigation. The rig pulled into the truck stop and stopped. Video Watch police search Mendehall’s truck »
Postiglione knocked on its door.
While talking with Mendenhall, Postiglione noticed what appeared to be blood on the inside of the driver’s door. Mendenhall gave the detective permission to look inside the truck. "
Wasn’t a random traffic stop, no HSC, and no body.
Trying to paint the picture that doing a police chase is a decision between “needless death” and “safety for the public” if we don’t do them is a false dichotomy.
Many police chases end with no incident. Many end with no injury.
What’s most important is we should never set the tone in our society as one of “well, if you try hard enough, we’re just going to let you go.” That’s a level of permissiveness we do not need. If we’re going to be a society of laws, we need to enforce those laws. For a host of reasons simply backing off and running plates is not, in fact, going to solve the problem. Is there some risk to society from police chases? Yes. But the greater risk would be in just letting people run away from the police whenever they want, it would set the wrong tone in our society. There is a risk to society in having police officers armed. Many societies don’t arm their regular police.
There have been cases of carjacking victims being found there and quite a few murderers have been caught by leaving bloodstains in their trunk so at least we know it’s a pretty popular way to move bodies. If anyone has been caught with a dead body still in there, I have no idea.
If you can’t set up a road block (you often can’t) then how do you know which door to knock on, and whose mother you should call? 
Yes, and how hard would it be for someone to remove their plate, put a fake one on or steal one from another car? You can’t just rely on running plates to apprehend someone.
Dr Deth and cmc - it wasn’t literally a body in the trunk, either. Sorry I didn’t have a CNN cite from the past week that fit the answer perfectly. I’ll write CNN a nasty letter.
From the license plate.
:rolleyes:
go back and read post #60
then post #63
then post #65
and finally post #79
Tell me again how you are going to convict someone and send them to jail with a license plate number.
WAG:
Run the plates, if they seem to match the car, then you know who owns the car
Contact the owner. Who has been driving the car?
Dust for prints–nobody’s prints but the owners? Safe to assume nobody but the owners were driving. If nothing else it seems you’d have a good shot at a civil case against the owner if nobody fessed up as the driver.
And even so, which is more important? Convincting a red-light runner or inspiring some blockhead to run(and lead the ensuing madness) from a routine traffic violation? Not saying don’t pull folks over for traffic infractions, of course do that. But when they run, serve a nastygram to the registered owner for the infraction ala photo radar and serve a criminal warrant for the owner as well to see what he has to say about the event.
I’ll bet that if Bubba’s sittng at home watching TV the evening following his “almost” ticket he’s thinking he got away with something. He won’t do anything but pee when the Sheriff knocks on his door and asks if that’s his 1988 Chevrolet in the driveway. He will not have an alibi cooked up.
The absence of prints does not prove that no one else was in the car. Also has anyone else ever ridden or driven your car? What about the guy that changed your oil last week, did he test drive the car? What if the cops popped his prints?
You guys are reminding me of the old Rodney Dangerfield bit
You really aren’t too clear on that probable cause, innocent until proven guilty, and beyond a reasonable doubt stuff are you?
Now while I admit that Bubba is probably not the sharpest knife in the drawer, what are you going to do if he refuses to answer the sheriff? You know that whole right to remain silent thing?
In the real world here is the most likely scenario. Cops discontinue chase or guy eludes them. Either he crashes or he doesn’t. If he crashes he leaves the car there, if he doesn’t he parks it several blocks away from his house. Either way he takes his sleeve and wipes off the steering wheel and inner door lock.
he goes home.
If there is no bodily injury I doubt that the cops would even bother to dust for prints. if there was bodily injury they might dust for prints. You are not going to get the full CSI treatment unless the bodily injury is to a kid, a young mother (blond is preferable) or a nun.
In any case if the cops show up, all the guy has to do is look surprised and ask what do they mean his car was used in a pursuit? Its parked right over, HOLY SHIT MY CAR HAS BEEN STOLEN.
Exactly. That’s why the traffic light cameras here can ticket you, but not apply any points against your license.
For the record, I am not advocating high speed chases. PDs need to constantly evaluate under what circumstances a chase is warranted, and back off when it isn’t. I will say that a blanket ban on chasing fleeing subjects is wrong. The second someone flees, he identifies himself as a danger, regardless of the reason for the stop. I believe that all reasonable efforts should be made to apprehend the driver (not necessarily the owner).
Actually, that’s probably not a hot idea, because you’re then going to be filing a false report. Your best bet is to not say anything, because nothing you say other than “this dude over here was driving” is going to change what the cops do to you, for the better. At most you say “I don’t know what you’re talking about I’ve been home all day”. Maybe you can get one of your skeevy friends to perjure themselves and provide you with an alibi.
At any rate, if they want to arrest you, they will. However, they still have to prove it was you driving, which is a hell of a lot harder after the fact than it is if they drag your ass out of the driver’s seat.
Fuck.
Got another one today. Couple teenagers stole a car, cops chased 'em to the open highway and gave 'em some tack strips at 100+ mph.
Imagine an SUV losing all 4 tires at 100+
Good for the cops. Somehow I really don’t give a shit about your insurance company.
I suspect that Inigo didn’t post that to complain about how it’s affecting his employer.
However, I’m having difficulty summoning up a lot of sympathy for the car thieves, if an innocent bystander was injured, that’s another story.
What is the better option? Let them escape, chop up the SUV (or have it sent overseas), just because they ran? When that happens, I’m going into a new line of business! I’ll need to, as insurance rates will skyrocket since anyone can steal anything and escape.
If you are looking for a perfect solution, there is none. Police departments need to try to employ the most prudent solution given the circumstances. Sometimes it means letting people escape if chasing significantly increases the risk to the police and bystanders; sometimes it means herding the runners only a tack strip, and accepting whatever may be the consequences.
So if prudent bank robber is wearing gloves before snatching your car to rob a bank does that mean you get to go down for the bank robbery too?
Failure to explain it does not mean guilt. Last time I checked, in this country, I am innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. My fingerprints all over my own car? Who’da thought? Next thing you know innocence of witchcraft will be declared by failure to survive immersion in water for 10 min.
So you are also wishing financial ruin on the victim of a crime (car theft) as well.
Theres an insurance company policy manual if I ever heard one 
Such strips don’t cause blowouts; they cause the tires to slowly deflate, in hopes of getting the driver to come to a stop without crashing.