In my world, people who say “totes cool” are not considered to be reliable interpreters of Supreme Court decisions.
From the Texas Penal Code:
38.04. EVADING ARREST OR DETENTION. (a) A person
commits an offense if he intentionally flees from a person he knows
is a peace officer attempting lawfully to arrest or detain him.
(b) An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor,
except that the offense is:
(1) a state jail felony if the actor uses a vehicle
while the actor is in flight and the actor has not been previously
convicted under this section;
(2) a felony of the third degree if:
(A) the actor uses a vehicle while the actor is in
flight and the actor has been previously convicted under this
section; or
(B) another suffers serious bodily injury as a
direct result of an attempt by the officer from whom the actor is
fleeing to apprehend the actor while the actor is in flight; or
(3) a felony of the second degree if another suffers
death as a direct result of an attempt by the officer from whom the
actor is fleeing to apprehend the actor while the actor is in
flight.
© In this section, “vehicle” has the meaning assigned by
Section 541.201, Transportation Code.
(d) A person who is subject to prosecution under both this
section and another law may be prosecuted under either or both this
section and the other law.
Fleeing from the police is reasonable suspicion, which gives the police enough to stop you even if they have no reason to suspect that you’ve done something wrong, or even if they have no suspicion that a crime has even been committed. Illinois v. Wardlow. That was a 5-4 decision, though; four justices thought otherwise.
In my experience, fleeing results in rotator cuff injuries, acromio-clavicular separations, dislocated shoulders, and distal upper extremity nerve injuries.
At least those are the things my patients complain about having gotten due to running from the cops.
You’d think not, but here we are.
What part of my interpretation of Tennessee v. Garner is inaccurate? The 15-year-old was climbing a fence to get away, the officer didn’t believe he was armed, and he was not suspected of committing a violent crime. As far as I can tell, the reasonable suspicion that the suspect might harm someone else is just based on the fact that he’s suspected of committing a felony and the fact that he’s fleeing.
Oops! My bad, I remembered how the original case went but I did forget that one little part about which way SCOTUS actually ruled on it.
I guess it is true about ‘totes cool’ 
Sometimes its just another charge to add to your list, that can be dropped to make a plea bargain more appealing.
For example, my brother was driving with drunk and ran from the police (at normal speeds) in his car. For about 5 miles before stopping. Even running a few red lights that had no cars at them (small town). Court came and they said if he pleads guilty to the DUI they will drop the evasion and all the traffic incidents he incurred in the process of that.
Well, just make sure you are NOT suspected of commiting a felony before you flee and you should be home free.
Running and hiding can also result in the dogs being called out and set off after you (as happened to a young and stupid friend of many many moons ago). Personally I’d far rather be tackled by an angry cop than have an Alsatian run me down and grab me.
Absolute worst-case scenario, fleeing the cops or avoiding arrest can get you killed. It’s happened before and it’ll probably happen again. It’s not supposed to happen, and the cops that do the killing usually get into a fuckton of trouble for it, but that’s not much consolation to the dead guy, or his family.
I think the anti-running away from cops stuff here is selection bias. I don’t know this but would think that in general it’s a much better idea to run away in almost all cases.
A friend of mine who I will call Limple Sinctus ran away from the police at 3amish on 1 January 2008 after crashing his car and thus avoided a drink driving charge. So I speak from experience of my friends. And justice was still done cause Limple Sinctus has never driven drunk again, which is presumably all that should be cared about - who cares if he’s actually punished for it or not so long as the roads are safer?
If a fleeing person hasn’t actually committed any violent crime yet, I don’t see any point in chasing them, especially if they are in a vehicle. All that is being done by pursuing is heighten the sense of desperation of these people, thus increasing the likelihood that they might commit a violent crime to try and ensure their getaway.
There was a woman who robbed the local bank here a couple of years ago and tried to get away on foot. Funny how they didn’t shoot her or anything. One case of a 15 YO being shot, while shameful, does not define the entire country.
In this case, they chased her down and caught her. I mean, she was like 300+ pounds. I don’t mean to refer to her weight but you shouldn’t attempt a foot getaway when you can’t actually run away.
True, but the ILL SC decision was based on the ILL Constitution in addition to the 4th AM.
So unless ILL SC precedent states any case decided by the ILL SC based on both the 4th AM and ILL’s parallel Clause that is reversed on 4th AM grounds, also negates the state constitutional protection, police in ILL still can not follow Wardlow.