Tweet
Hhmmmmmm
Police chase 'not worth the risk'
Cops should pursue violent criminals only, police tactics expert says
Rob Shaw, Times Colonist Published: Tuesday, February 06, 2007
The Victoria Police Department faced blunt questions yesterday about how a high speed chase through a residential neighbourhood on the weekend ended with gunfire and a fatality.
A U.S. expert in police tactics, who helped the RCMP develop its policy on police pursuits, said Victoria should follow the trend of other police departments and only chase criminals suspected of violent crimes.
"About 35 to 40 per cent of chases result in a crash," said Geoffrey Alpert, a professor in the criminology and criminal justice department at the University of South Carolina, who has published studies on police pursuits.
"Most progressive police chiefs have realized it's just not worth the risk of the public, and my family your family and their families, to go chase someone who is wanted for running a red light or stealing a car."
Stealing is exactly what started a Victoria chase Saturday night. Police noticed a stolen 1991 white GMC Jimmy SUV near Topaz Avenue, west of Quadra Street. They watched 37-year-old John Seguin enter the vehicle and tried to block his escape with their cruisers. But he crashed through police, leading officers on a chase through nine city blocks at speeds exceeding 70 kilometres an hour.
Seguin apparently swerved to try to hit three officers standing near their cars at a blockade at Hillside Avenue and Blackwood Street. The officers started shooting at the vehicle.
Police said Seguin drove the SUV past the blockade, spun around, and sped back towards the officers who started firing again.
Seguin was fatally hit and died later in hospital. It is the first time in the force's history that officers have shot and killed a person.
The entire chase took fewer than two minutes. Typically, police in Victoria and other jurisdictions call off a chase at unsafe speeds or when it enters a neighbourhood where it could endanger the public. But this chase was too fast for that, said Victoria Police Chief Paul Battershill.
"When a chase starts, there has to be an analysis made of what's taking place," he said yesterday. "But that generally takes a minute or two to do and this was over in 90 seconds."
That should have been enough time, Alpert said, adding that perhaps the outcome will spur Victoria to set a more restrictive policy on pursuits.
"It may well bring your chief to his right mind to avoid these things later on," Alpert said. "The problem is, you can't predict what the guy fleeing is going to do. If he's going to escape, at what cost? Why would you chase him into a residential neighbourhood?"
Three officers fired approximately 12 shots from their service pistols to kill Seguin. Some of the bullets hit his vehicle. But they also struck a bus shelter, a parked car, and a moving car..
Battershill said it is a balanced decision to fire weapons.
"It's arguable that vehicle hurtling down Hillside Avenue would pose an even greater risk to the public," he said. "You have to balance that out. Had he continued he could have very likely run down members of the public or killed someone in a fatal crash."
An independent investigation of the shooting will be led by Supt. Brad Parker of the Delta police.
© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2007
Cops should pursue violent criminals only, police tactics expert says
Rob Shaw, Times Colonist Published: Tuesday, February 06, 2007
The Victoria Police Department faced blunt questions yesterday about how a high speed chase through a residential neighbourhood on the weekend ended with gunfire and a fatality.
A U.S. expert in police tactics, who helped the RCMP develop its policy on police pursuits, said Victoria should follow the trend of other police departments and only chase criminals suspected of violent crimes.
"About 35 to 40 per cent of chases result in a crash," said Geoffrey Alpert, a professor in the criminology and criminal justice department at the University of South Carolina, who has published studies on police pursuits.
"Most progressive police chiefs have realized it's just not worth the risk of the public, and my family your family and their families, to go chase someone who is wanted for running a red light or stealing a car."
Stealing is exactly what started a Victoria chase Saturday night. Police noticed a stolen 1991 white GMC Jimmy SUV near Topaz Avenue, west of Quadra Street. They watched 37-year-old John Seguin enter the vehicle and tried to block his escape with their cruisers. But he crashed through police, leading officers on a chase through nine city blocks at speeds exceeding 70 kilometres an hour.
Seguin apparently swerved to try to hit three officers standing near their cars at a blockade at Hillside Avenue and Blackwood Street. The officers started shooting at the vehicle.
Police said Seguin drove the SUV past the blockade, spun around, and sped back towards the officers who started firing again.
Seguin was fatally hit and died later in hospital. It is the first time in the force's history that officers have shot and killed a person.
The entire chase took fewer than two minutes. Typically, police in Victoria and other jurisdictions call off a chase at unsafe speeds or when it enters a neighbourhood where it could endanger the public. But this chase was too fast for that, said Victoria Police Chief Paul Battershill.
"When a chase starts, there has to be an analysis made of what's taking place," he said yesterday. "But that generally takes a minute or two to do and this was over in 90 seconds."
That should have been enough time, Alpert said, adding that perhaps the outcome will spur Victoria to set a more restrictive policy on pursuits.
"It may well bring your chief to his right mind to avoid these things later on," Alpert said. "The problem is, you can't predict what the guy fleeing is going to do. If he's going to escape, at what cost? Why would you chase him into a residential neighbourhood?"
Three officers fired approximately 12 shots from their service pistols to kill Seguin. Some of the bullets hit his vehicle. But they also struck a bus shelter, a parked car, and a moving car..
Battershill said it is a balanced decision to fire weapons.
"It's arguable that vehicle hurtling down Hillside Avenue would pose an even greater risk to the public," he said. "You have to balance that out. Had he continued he could have very likely run down members of the public or killed someone in a fatal crash."
An independent investigation of the shooting will be led by Supt. Brad Parker of the Delta police.
© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2007
(Me)
Comment