Police pursuits, should the police continue the chase?

Two chases in southern Warren County a few weekends ago, one the following Tuesday just before lunch and two more this weekend has drawn attention and created a conversation on the issue of police chases.

Both weekend chases began in the city and had city units chasing vehicles into the county. Tuesday’s chase ended in the suspect vehicle flipping on Hwy 80. Friday night’s chase was successfully ended when police trapped the suspects in a closed neighborhood. Sunday morning’s chase ended in a crash. The first two chases were terminated, Tuesday’s chase ended in a crash, Friday’s chase ended in a neighborhood and Sunday morning’s ended in a crash.

The first chase began when a city officer observed a vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed causing another vehicle to nearly run off the road. The officer began the pursuit and was able to get the tag number off the vehicle. Once the information came back with the vehicle’s address and the probable driver, the chase was terminated.

A woman is taken into custody after leading police on a chase a couple of weeks ago. Photo by David Day

Another chase less than 24 hours later began in the city when a police officer attempted to stop a vehicle with a headlight out. The vehicle fled and took a similar path on county roads. The officer was assisted by Warren County officers. They also terminated the chase once they had solid tag information and the identity of the suspected driver of the vehicle.

Tuesday’s chase was short-lived and ended with the vehicle rolling on Hwy 80 at Greenhill and there were no injuries.

Friday night’s chase started near Farmer and Randolph and ended on 1st Avenue near Meadowvale.

Two men are in custody after leading police on a chase Friday night. Photo by David Day

The first weekend chases caused concern among citizens who either witnessed the pursuit or felt threatened by the vehicles speeding past them. Friday night’s chase included a local resident saying they had their tag number, they could have got them another day. A juvenile was driving the vehicle that crashed in Bovina Sunday morning. The juvenile was uninjured.

What do you think?

A conversation on social media had people saying law enforcement should not let them go and others saying they were thankful no one was hurt.

What do you think? Should police pursue it no matter what or should some other approach be used?