By MICHAEL PAUL WILLIAMS
Published: March 27, 2010

From 1982 through 2008, crashes involving police pursuits resulted in 8,962 fatalities nationally.

In Virginia during that time, 195 people died in such wrecks, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Such pursuits are far more likely to take the life of the person being chased, another driver or a bystander than that of the pursuing officer, according to the figures.

That's what happened Wednesday night, when a highly suspect chase that began at a Henrico County police checkpoint ended with the death of a beloved East End church leader.

Police say Apostle Anthony L. Taylor, 44, pastor of the United House of Prayer for All People, was killed when his vehicle was struck by a fleeing driver at 31st and P streets in Richmond, three blocks from his church.

Darryl M. Harris has been charged by Richmond police with involuntary manslaughter and felony eluding police.

Barbara Terry lives a couple of blocks from the scene of the wreck and says she witnessed the high-speed chase from the deck of her home and heard the collision.

She knew Taylor and had attended a couple of services at the church, which is known for its charitable community outreach.

"I just felt so distraught," she said. "He's not a family member of mine, but it felt like I lost a family member."

She makes it clear that the community holds Harris responsible. But she makes it equally clear that pursuing police should be held accountable, too.

The sad irony of high-speed pursuits is that police are seldom less in control of events than they are when they pursue a suspect. For that reason alone, pursuits need to be reserved for the most dire circumstances involving violent criminals.

Candy Priano, founder and executive director of Voices Insisting on Pursuit Safety, knows the pain felt in Richmond's East End firsthand. Her 15-year-old daughter died in 2002 when the family minivan was T-boned by a teenage driver being chased by police in Chico, Calif.

"The problem is there's no accountability," Priano said yesterday after learning of Taylor's death. "And in a few months, the community -- not the family, not the church family -- but the community as a whole will remember this incident less and less."

Policies need to be instituted and enforced that allow high-speed chases only in pursuit of violent felons, she said. She also backs mandatory prison time for any driver who flees police.

Priano says police "should be held to the same legal standard of the rest of us who are driving, and if they are not following their policy they should be held accountable." (Henrico police say there was no clear violation of their policy.)

On Thursday night, United House of Prayer for All People sought to retain a sense of normalcy even as it grappled with the unthinkable.

Its nightly service included emotional testimonies from grief-stricken members, said Elder A.D. Brown Sr., the church's assistant pastor.

Brown said church members are focusing on the message of love in Taylor's final sermon. It's a church in shock, but not anger, he said.

Forgiveness is good, but we should never forget this pointless tragedy. Police must stop placing at risk the communities that they're charged to protect and serve.