Police pursuit

[Yonnee]

Heard the Police helicopter overhead yesterday afternoon, and a short while later, a dark blue VL Commodore go rocketing noisily past our front door at work, followed closely, and rather swiftly, by a dark blue VE Highway Patrol car. Another two marked cars went past next, lights flashing.
This is the result... (http://www.greaterdandenongweekly.com.au/news/local/news/general/three-men-nabbed-in-dandenong-crash/2606945.aspx) (About a kilometer up the road.)
No fatalaties. No innocent parties injured. And a successful arrest, means no major news coverage.
Where are all those people opposed to Police pursuits...?? Why aren't they applauding about a job well done as emphatically as they criticize when it does go wrong?

[Sir Stinkalot]

"A police spokesman said Stop Sticks — special quills that penetrate a tyre and act as valves to release air at a controlled rate — had been used to halt the Commodore near the intersection."

If this is the case then why does the "stolen blue VL Commodore sedan" need to be "crunched between an unmarked police station wagon and a highway patrol sedan" ???

It will be interesting to see who has to pay the costs associated with the damage to the two police cars, including the loss of productive time while they are off the road.

[NCArcher]

If this is the case then why does the "stolen blue VL Commodore sedan" need to be "crunched between an unmarked police station wagon and a highway patrol sedan" ???

One of the photos shows the tyre completely gone. The morons obviously didn't bother to stop when it went flat. Must have been trying to get away on the rim.
My hat's off to the police for getting those f&*#@%ts off the road without anyone getting hurt.

[Sir Stinkalot]

Perhaps it is just a poor use of the word "halt" in this instance :)

There was a similar incident here yesterday by all reports:
Amazing video: High-speed chase and carjacking spree in Adelaide | adelaidenow (http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/woman-carjacked-in-brazen-car-theft-spree-from-south-australias-south-east-to-adelaide/story-e6frea83-1226411501244)

"Police said the pursuit reached speeds of up to 180km/h and it was fortunate that no one was killed or seriously injured." Sounds like it went for hours.

[Yonnee]

There are numerous black tyre marks and steel marks on the road throughout the intersection, which suggests that despite the lack of front left tyre, they were still attempting to flee.
And you don't get that many chasers involved for just a car theft, so I gather there was more to it...

[specialist]

Hat's off to the police, there has been huge backlashes to chases here in Queensland in the past, but I believe that they are necessary as a deterrent to these morons who flout the law. It's sad that innocents sometimes are hurt, but one can hardly blame the Police for trying to enforce the law.

Robert

[petersemple]

From what I have read in the papers, one of the problems up here is no police choppers. If the chase gets too out of hand, they have to give up and the idiot gets away. If they had choppers, they could gve up the chase earlier, with less danger to the public, and still not let them get away.

[Bushmiller]

Hat's off to the police, there has been huge backlashes to chases here in Queensland in the past, but I believe that they are necessary as a deterrent to these morons who flout the law. It's sad that innocents sometimes are hurt, but one can hardly blame the Police for trying to enforce the law.

Robert

While I sympathise with these sentiments I wonder how any one of would feel if it was one our own innocents that was hurt or killed. Would we be capable of being magnanimous? How often are we told that a car is a dangerous weapon. At times not much different than a gun. Responsibility is a prerequisite for driving: no matter who you are.

I recall seeing a poster campaign in NSW some years back that read "There's no such thing as safe speeding" and I thought that probably made a excellent defense tactic for speeding tickets on the basis that there either is or there isn't. No exceptions. Those posters are conspicuous by their absense nowadays.

Just my mind wandering at an ungodly hour of the morning:).

Regards
Paul

[Twisted Tenon]

While I sympathise with these sentiments I wonder how any one of would feel if it was one our own innocents that was hurt or killed. Would we be capable of being magnanimous? How often are we told that a car is a dangerous weapon. At times not much different than a gun. Responsibility is a prerequisite for driving: no matter who you are.

Paul

Often the crime that they are running from is some sort of property crime. I would not like to know that my child was killed because some moron stole a car. The cops usually get these idiots later. Adrenalin causes common sense to go out the window.
TT