A Night of Conversation
PursuitSAFETY holds conference calls so members can talk with each other. We call these events A Night of Conversation.
Please listen to our very first A Night of Conversation. For your convenience, the audio tape is divided by titled sections, so you can select the parts of the conversation you want to hear. We've provided mp3 files. You may listen to the entire conversation as it happened by clicking on the links in order. The speakers open their hearts as they discuss common threads: loved ones summarily dismissed, justice eludes law-abiding citizens, and predictable and preventable tragedies that repeat themselves. Learn more about the people who participated in this event.
The information on these tapes is current, even though this Night of Conversation was held January 30, 2011.
Introductions Lucas Aragon, Jon Farris, & Bob and Mary Sanford are introduced. Cheryl Cooper and David Ehrensperger join the call shortly after this segment. There's a brief update on the need for people to help with marketing, grant writing and fundraising. It closes with a comment about PursuitSAFETY's Annual Reports. Time: 2:19 |
Telling Our Stories Lucas tells his sister Kim's story. Jon shares information about court protocol. The state of Massachusetts changed its pursuit policy after Jon's son Paul was killed. Jon appreciates these changes, but he is still working to improve the policy even more. A policy is only good when officers train in the policy and are held accountable when they fail to follow the policy. Time: 13:41 |
Searching for Justice Candy briefly talks about her opinions on penalties. Cheryl talks about the preventable death of a 12-year-old boy. A driver on PCP killed the boy. Two weeks earlier, this same driver was caught in a chase—only to be released by the court, aka "Catch and Release." Cheryl shares her son Christopher's story. PursuitSAFETY gives a voice to innocent victims of pursuit and the families left behind. Time: 7:07 |
Left in the Dark Cheryl asks the group if they felt as she did, i.e., she knew something was wrong with the chase that killed Christopher even before being told. Chases for known drivers and other ways to catch these drivers without the chase. Time: 9:35 |
Seeking Justice Robert Sanford talks about the life-changing injuries, including a severed leg, that occurred to his son's girlfriend Mari. Dan Stanford also received permanent injuries. Mary Sanford shares how Dan and Mari were injured because they were told "The police were just doing their job." The police knew the identity of the drug dealer in this 100-mph chase. Time: 6:17 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accountability Through Legislation Mary Sanford begins this segment. Discussion provides some answers as to why pursuit policies are ineffective. You may want to read Control of Police Vehicular Pursuit. Immunity shields vary from state-to-state. You may want to read this opinion article, Not So Black and White. Cheryl asked Candy to share about Kristie's Law, a proposed measure for the state of California to correct a poorly written state law that, still to this day, does not require officers to follow their pursuit policy. Read more. Time: 7:04 |
How Can We Help? Time: 1:21 |
St. Louis Lucas asks Candy to talk about Family Connections April 8-9, 2011 in St. Louis. Candy shares how important it is for us to unite to bring about much-needed change. Time: 2:39 |
Every State: Justices Eludes Law-Abiding Citizens Delays and more delays: David Ehrensperger tells his son Steven's story. Cheryl gives David some advice for when the officers are giving their depositions. David shares how difficult it is to read reports and how frustrating it is when the court dates are changed and delayed. After waiting, the Ehrenspergers were told, "The dash cam tape is blank." Time: 10:12 |
Power After his son Paul's death, Jon learned something about dash cams in the state of Massachusetts. Jon speaks about the power of the police unions and lobbyist. Cheryl shares information about what happened at the crash site and the officers' unthinkable remarks and laughter. Link to video news report about the officer's comment. David talks about the crash site "clean-up" where Steven was killed. This information is not on the tape: In Chico police chase that killed Candy's daughter Kristie, there no dash cam video. There isn't even a transcript of the chase, and the Chico police investigated this deadly chase. Time: 10:55 |
Join the PursuitSAFETY team for A Night of Conversation and support. We want to hear your stories and how we can help you and your family.
Comments by attendees:
Jon Farris of Wisconsin, "Thanks Candy! Great start to what I hope can be a quarterly or bi-annual teleconference event." Jon's son Paul is remembered as a remarkable young man. Here is the website that Jon talked about during our Night of Conversation: paulfarris.org.
Response to Jon's comment: It looks as if PursuitSAFETY's next Night of Conversation will be Sunday, July 31, 2011. Join the PursuitSAFETY team for A Night of Conversation and support. We want to hear your stories and how we can help you and your family.
Mary and Bob Sanford of Minnesota, "Thanks for giving us the opportunity to hear the voices of those so affected by the death of someone so dear. We share the same frustrations of everyone else and heard in your voices that for years and years the pain is right there to come to the surface at any time. I know that we are blessed in that our children were not taken from us." Their son Dan and his girlfriend Mari received life-changing injuries as a result of a police chase. Read more at Justice for Mari and Dan.
Lucas Aragon of California: Lucas' spoke about the criminal trial of the driver who fled police in New Mexico. The driver crashed into Lucas' sister Kim and her friend Janice. Both women were killed. Lucas also spoke about a candlelight vigil in memory of Kim and Janice. Here's a news story on that event:
Cheryl Cooper of Missouri: Cheryl's son Christopher "Chris" Cooper was killed by a driver fleeing police. Cheryl continues to fight for justice for Chris. Now the convicted driver has filed an appeal, causing Cheryl to have to fight harder for justice. Cheryl discussed and sent us this link about the officer's comment and laughter in regard to Chris' death.
David Ehrensperger of Alabama: His son Steven Ehrensperger was killed when an officer responding to a burglary call crashed into Steven's car.