Cops with big guns at Promenade

[AquaMan]

Last week a high speed pursuit along Edison street took the chase right through a school zone at the same time junior and high school students were letting out. The car lost control and hit another car. My understanding is that the TP had backed off. They have policies to do so because endangering innocents to pursue property rights is a bad is a bad policy. Use the chopper. They don't fall out of the sky as often as cruisers hit other cars.

But when the guy starts shooting at his pursuers, the calculus changes. Meth is seriously hurting our community.

[Conan71]

Only to cost the taxpayers hundreds of thousands in future lawsuits and wrongful death settlements.
But I only know what I read:
http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/law-enforcement-bulletin/march-2010/evidence-based-decisions-on-police-pursuits

Uh, the only person harmed in this incident was the fleeing tweaker driver.  No pending lawsuits on this one.

[patric]

Uh, the only person harmed in this incident was the fleeing tweaker driver.  No pending lawsuits on this one.

Make some more posts like that and Im sure you will eventually see one...  

[nathanm]

Of course your superior logic over-rides that of people trained in law enforcement.

Thankfully, there are plenty of people trained in law enforcement who agree with me. Many other cities have policies restricting high speed pursuit. That said, appeal to authority is pretty weak sauce. You can do better than that.

[Vashta Nerada]

According to the TW story posted yesterday, he wasn't shooting until after he fled from QT and they had already pursued for a mile or two.

Other than our cowardly prosecutors and timid media, how many steps removed are we from something like this?

Cleveland Police Chief Mark McGrath announced on Tuesday that following an 11-month investigation his office will issue suspensions for 63 of the 104 officers involved in a 25-minute high-speed car chase that resulted in the fatal shooting of the driver and his passenger.

The officers are being disciplined because of excessive speed, insubordination and failure to request permission to join the pursuit, he said.  Some officers also told state investigators they were frightened and feared for their lives.

The chase involved 63 police cars, according to the investigation.

In March, the U.S. Justice Department launched a review of Cleveland police policies over the possible use of excessive force by officers.
In a wide-ranging review by state agents, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said in February the chase resulted from leadership failures. "Command failed, communications failed, the system failed," DeWine said.

Nine Cleveland police department supervisors were suspended, two demoted and one was fired due to the way they handled the incident, McGrath said. 

A fleeing driver and passenger were killed when officers fired 137 shots at them in the 23-minute chase that involved five dozen cruisers and wove through residential neighborhoods before ending in gunfire.

Police Chief Michael McGrath said the suspensions were the result of disciplinary hearings, and violations ranged from insubordination to driving too fast during the chase.

The hearings did not involve any of the officers involved in the shooting because a county grand jury is investigating possible criminal wrongdoing among the 13 officers who fired their weapons. No weapon or shell casings were found in the fleeing car.

An initial review of the chase found 75 patrol officers violated orders, but the disciplinary hearings reduced that number to 64 officers. All but one received a suspension, with the longest being 10 days, McGrath said.  Some of the officers received a written warning.

Police previously announced punishments for 12 supervisors stemming from the chase. One sergeant was fired. A captain and lieutenant were demoted, and nine sergeants were suspended.

The nighttime chase began last November when an officer thought he heard a gunshot from a car speeding by the police station in downtown Cleveland. A parking lot attendant thought it might have been a car backfire, a theory endorsed by the driver's family.

The officer jumped into his patrol car and radioed for help. The chase went through neighborhoods, onto Interstate 90, and eventually ended in East Cleveland.

Driver Timothy Russell, 43, was shot 23 times and passenger Malissa Williams, 30, was shot 24 times.

McGrath said Tuesday that some of the officers continued the chase after being told to stop because they thought an officer was in trouble. He said the officers who were disciplined were honest and professional during the review process. He also said police supervisors failed to take charge of the chase and allowed it to escalate.

The union has said the shootings were justified because the driver tried to ram an officer.

[heironymouspasparagus]

Uh, the only person harmed in this incident was the fleeing tweaker driver.  No pending lawsuits on this one.

And the guy this one tortured for a while with his buddy....  The three were dealing/producing/consuming meth, and the one they kidnapped was a buddy who got caught and offered a deal, so he ratted on the two who then kidnapped and beat him up.  This one was already over the edge - way far gone - and having the shotgun, from stuff I have heard about him, a cop standoff/shootout was pretty much inevitable.

[Conan71]

And the guy this one tortured for a while with his buddy....  The three were dealing/producing/consuming meth, and the one they kidnapped was a buddy who got caught and offered a deal, so he ratted on the two who then kidnapped and beat him up.  This one was already over the edge - way far gone - and having the shotgun, from stuff I have heard about him, a cop standoff/shootout was pretty much inevitable.

Must be something to have little green men shouting in his ear the whole time.  I never got the idea behind meth or cocaine.  I enjoy sleep too much to be up for four or five days in a row.

[Gaspar]

Must be something to have little green men shouting in his ear the whole time.  I never got the idea behind meth or cocaine.  I enjoy sleep too much to be up for four or five days in a row.

Mkay.

Stay away now or crash later.  Feel good now or feel good later.  Compress and decompress.  It all evens out in the end.  The piper must be paid.

There is no benefit without cost.  Just takes some folks a while to realize that, and some never do.

[Vashta Nerada]

Ah, the War On Drugs.
That justifies everything.

[Hoss]

Ah, the War On Drugs.
That justifies everything.

On meth and other drugs, sure.  On marijuana?  I've believed we should have legalized that before the turn of the century.  Are you familiar with the term 'Money Pit', as it relates to the LEO FAIL that has been the war on pot?  Legalize it and give the states taxation rights like they do with tobacco.  Two birds/one stone.  Pun intended.

[Red Arrow]

On meth and other drugs, sure.  On marijuana?  I've believed we should have legalized that before the turn of the century.  Are you familiar with the term 'Money Pit', as it relates to the LEO FAIL that has been the war on pot?  Legalize it and give the states taxation rights like they do with tobacco.  Two birds/one stone.  Pun intended.

I think pot was legal before the turn of the previous century.

[heironymouspasparagus]

I think pot was legal before the turn of the previous century.

1932.  Compliments of DuPont and Randolph Hearst.  And the bought and paid for Congress of that day....just like today's Congress.

[Hoss]

I think pot was legal before the turn of the previous century.

So was cocaine, heroin (any opiate).  Your point is?

[Conan71]

On meth and other drugs, sure.  On marijuana?  I've believed we should have legalized that before the turn of the century.  Are you familiar with the term 'Money Pit', as it relates to the LEO FAIL that has been the war on pot?  Legalize it and give the states taxation rights like they do with tobacco.  Two birds/one stone.  Pun intended.

Now the potheads in Colorado are pissed off about corporate MJ since it was legalized.  Did we not see that coming?

Who says dope doesn't make you stupid?

[Red Arrow]

So was cocaine, heroin (any opiate).  Your point is?

Nothing in particular.  Just an observation of history.