News Articles

U.S. watchdog organization condemns fatal police chase
canada.com, November 17, 2008: John Phillips, president of PursuitWatch says police should never have pursued the suspected cigarette smuggler who ended up killing a New York couple and himself in a violent crash to end a police chase.

Police chases prompt policy scrutiny
Democrat and Chronicle, New York, October 23, 2008: Twice this month, area police engaged in frenzied high-speed chases reaching upwards of 80 miles per hour. ... Candy Priano, executive director of the nonprofit Voices Insisting on PursuitSAFETY, knows about the limitations of FARS fatality reporting. Her organization pushes for tougher police policies for pursuits and, she said, she knows of four more innocent bystanders killed in California chases in 2007 than are included in the numbers for that state.

Chases: 'An emerging public health problem'
The Society for Academic Emergency Medicine: Dr. Robert M. Miller one of the groups' leading researchers, concluded, "Police pursuit related fatalities are an emerging public health problem that affects suspects, police officers and innocent bystanders alike. More data must be gathered by each state to fully understand the nature of pursuits with a goal of reducing preventable deaths and injuries." UPDATE, August 29, 2008: PursuitSAFETY's board members Robert Bastian and Candy Priano are gathering data by each state. They are researching state pursuit policies as well as policies from individual law enforcement agencies; state (and federal) immunity laws; and the number of pursuits, pursuit deaths and injuries by state. If you have research or any information about this topic, please contact Candy Priano at vips.pursuitsafety@yahoo.com.

Several factors weigh in on Pennsylvania police chases
The Morning Call, August 21, 2008: In-depth look at state law, pursuit policies and officer training.

Mom claims stretch of Noland Road as her own
Missouri-Independence Examiner, August 19, 2008: “Christopher Cooper was a 17-year-old junior at Truman when he was struck on his bicycle by a car fleeing police last November near Truman Road and Osage Street. "Out of everything that has happened, it is very hard to find any positives,” Cheryl Cooper, Chris's mom said. “I’m very interested in motivating the young people to get involved in their community in just a small way. I’d be happy if maybe this can keep just one of them from throwing a plastic bottle out of a window while they’re driving.” (Video of clean-up, click here.)

Fatal chases won't alter Louisa, Virginia, policy
Charlottesville Daily Progress, August 9, 2008: Over the decades, retired Police Chief D.P. Van Blaricom said, he has seen many police departments write more restrictive policies but not follow them. For a policy to work, he said, officers need to be trained in it and understand the consequences of not following it.

Acting on pursuits
Chico Enterprise-Record, July 28, 2008: PursuitSAFETY spokesperson Glenn Morshower said he came to Chico earlier this month to film public service announcements designed to make people aware that innocent Americans die every week because of ill-advised police pursuits and that officers do not always follow their departments' pursuit policies.

Chase victims often bystanders
The Huntsville Times, July 27, 2008: John Harris Phillips, president of the Florida-based PursuitWatch.org, said an officer pursuing someone who has not committed a violent crime is akin to "shooting a gun in a crowded room. Sometimes, nothing will happen. Other times, you'll hit other people."

 

PursuitSAFETY in the News

The Chico Enterprise-Record

October 10, 2007 — Larry Mitchell, Staff Writer for the Chico E-R, reports: In June, Priano and others who want to reform police practices concerning pursuits formed an organization, Voices Insisting on PursuitSAFETY.

USA Today, The Early Show, & Good Morning America

October 9, 2007 — USA Today article on GM's OnStar features two advisory board members from PursuitSAFETY: Dr. Geoffrey Alpert and John Harris Phillips. Read the USA Today story.

John Harris Phillips, also president of PursuitWatch.org, was on CBS' Early Show and Candy Priano, Director, PursuitSAFETY, was on Good Morning America.

Read news stories published from 2003-2006 at KristiesLaw.org.

Opinion Articles

How many deaths before it's not okay?" by Candy Priano,
The Conservative Voice, September 19, 2007: How many deaths before it's not okay?" is a rebuttal to Thomas Sowell's column "High-speed car chases by the police " PDF)

Pursuit policies need an overhaul
Dothan Eagle, Dothan, Alabama, July 23, 2007: Now James Williamson's family — his wife, his mother, two sons, five grandchildren, three sisters and a brother — have a funeral to plan and a long road of mourning and heartache ahead. Why? Because Philip Lutz didn’t stop his truck when a patrol car attempted to pull him over in Jackson County, Fla. Lutz, who has two felony warrants for eluding police, took off.

Facts, Please
The Washington Post, June 16, 2007: ANOTHER terrible crash on the Capital Beltway: Four young women were killed and a fifth was injured Thursday night; three of the victims had graduated from West Potomac High School only hours before. Our hearts go out to the families. Meanwhile, nearly three weeks have passed since a seven-vehicle pileup on the Beltway claimed two lives, and we know little more about what happened now than we did the night of May 30. At the time, police told reporters that an officer was chasing a motorcyclist and, in the process, rammed another vehicle, which sailed over a median rail and onto the Beltway's inner loop. Five other cars traveling in the inner loop then crashed. The driver and passenger in the car that jumped the median both died, and 15 people were injured. The officer who allegedly gave chase is on administrative leave. There is a video record of the matter, caught by a camera in the police cruiser, but the motorcyclist is still at large.

Read editorials and opinion articles published from 2003-2006 at KristiesLaw.org.