News-Record.com

Absolutely YES. Law Enforcement's Motto:"TO SERVE AND PROTECT". How were the innocent children killed in Granville county protected? I have seen too many families devastated because law enforcement officers were reckless in the pursuit of people on the highways. It is better to let the person go than to create another situation endangering innocent people's lives. Some will say, "But what if they just killed someone?". One life has already been lost. Why would you want to possibly cause more. If governments want their law enforcement officers to pursue high speed chases, then they must become liable for the losses of innocent lives and property. For if they were not shielded behind "immunity" for damages and loss of life, I believe these high speed chases would occur much less or hopefully not at all.

I believe high speed chases low speed chases what ever the case may be is justified for simple fact people have been allowed to get away with anything under the sun and continue to abuse our sytems of laws and justice. If we continue to let people get away with what ever strikes their fancy what or who will be their next victim. The loss of any life is way to much to pay. I was a career public safety officer and saw too many acts of murder and just plain evil.
It has to stop some where and i feel if you are persued and cause a death by not stopping, a needle in the arm while at Central prison is justified.

David and Corby- You both make great points. I do believe that criminals are allowed to get away with too much, but that usually occurs during court proceedings. Judges need to be tougher with punishments. For instance, why was this guy even driving if he has had several prior DWIs. I do not think police chases should be allowed. It is not safe for anyone involved, including the police officers. My husband is a police officer and he was told during training not to pursue the vehicle if they are in a congested location, city, etc... I understand that it is difficult for some of these officers who are in it for the thrill to make rational decisions on when to end the chase, therefore; these types of chases should not be allowed at ALL.

First of all I really feel for the family and friends of the two sisters lost in this tragic event.

I am not entirely against police chases. I realize there has to be parameters set in these circumstances. I'm not sure exactly what they should be.

The reason I am not entirely against the chases is because for one, there is no guarantee whatsoever that the getaway driver will slow down once the Police back off.

The getaway driver in many of these cases will be thinking, "the Police has backed off but how do I know they're not lurking and trying to trick me into slowing down".

I don't have the answers here. Its a very sad situation.

One statement that bothers me quite a bit is "our family is upset that we haven't received an apology from the Police yet".

Lets not forget who the criminal was here and in most if not all Police chases. Its the getaway driver, not the Police.

I'm sorry these beautiful young ladies are gone and I wish I had answers.

Police Officers need to cut the chase. Its not worth taking lives. I am very sorry for thoses people and their families.It could happen to any of us. Stop this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Once again, arm-chair quarterbacks want to handcuff the police. Nobody can ever know in advance the outcome of chasing or not chasing. If this is what you want, then you must hire prophets, not humans, as your police. There are no winners here. Three families have suffered losses. Has anyone considered the impact on the officer, and what he must live with for the rest of his life? Most departments have guidelines on when to chase, not chase, or end the chase. But don't expect perfection. Even IF this officer violated policy, it does not follow that all chases should be abolished. Hundreds of dangerous criminals are apprehended every year because some cop risked his life to chase them down. Do you want those predators loose in your neighborhood? Pray for the families of the girls and the officer. They will need it.

Several years ago, I had the dubious honor of being an innocent driver on a major highway when the highway patrol engaged in such an incident. It was the most frightening thing that I have ever been caught in. It was dark and raining and patrol cars were flashing by, changing lanes and in general endangering everyone on the road that night. My car was set steadily on 55 MPH and the patrol cars went by at such a speed that my car was actually "pushed" by the resulting wind gusts. I saw one driver pulled off the road with her head in her hands. The most frustrating thing was that for at least a week I checked every news outlet in the surrounding area and there was never anything in the news that explained the behavior of the highway patrol that night. After my experience, I do not belive that there is any excuse for any law enforcement officers to engage in excessive speed on our highways.

I think in this incident the police officer should have ended the pursuit. I always thought that police officers where trained to know when to back off. It's just not worth it in the end, especially in this case. I don't think that high speed chases should be prohibited but I just think that all police officers who are in one just need to use commom sense.

I do not know all of the facts. If the officer knew that the car being pursued was passing cars in a blind area with total disregard for himself or others, it would factor into a decision to call it off. That, as said before, does not mean that the offender will then drive in a safe manner. If the act of initiating a stop/chase sparks a wreckless and tragic action, do we call off all traffic stops? Where would it stop? I noted that in the initial story, the offender was ALREADY endangering lives when the officer initiated the chase. An attempt should be made to apprehend those that choose to act in this manner. No doubt the police chase was a factor in this tragic event, but it was not the fault of the police that this happened.

I just do not think the chases should happen period!! besides innocent drivers on the road I just don't think it is safe for the officer either.. why can't the officer just get the tag # and find out who it is and go from there?? he could radio other officers on the highway and warn them to look out for this car but I just don't think all this high speed chasing is worth so many lives or worth the innocent drivers having to go thru the trauma that they go thru as they witness this..

Do you actually think that the police do not use their radios? Do you know how difficult it can be to try to head off a suspect, not knowing where he will turn next? And that license plate thing ought to work real well on stolen vehicles, right?

It is a tragedy that there were innocent lives lost. I am not hardened against that, what bugs me to death is that the general populace will sit around and complain about what happened without doing a thing about it. Do you know what most people do in the vicinity of a crime - turn away, make themselves as inconsequential as possible, instead of standing up, pointing out and making a statement "I don't want this to happen!". Go back to your chairs, you don't want to be involved.

You have three choices - self police, hired Police, or Military. I can garrantee you don't want any military policing domestic matters, and self policing can not work at a municipal level. So you are stuck with Police. If you have an input, get where you can be heard and make a difference, otherwise sit back and get what you deserve.

The police have a difficult job to do, and in most instances, their best is better than "good enough". No one is perfect, the last person that was, was killed at 33.

I think it is an easy thing to do to over generalize, especially when you are faced with such a horrible tragedy and especially when it has to do with the police. So often there are complaints about police officers...why did they not respond sooner, why did they not find the criminal, why did they not prevent this or that...because we want them to be the saviors, because we want to feel safe, because we want all of our needs met. But just like doctors who are unable to save patients, police can not stop or prevent everything bad that happens. There are police officers out there that risk their lives to help each and every one of us. And yet when they fail, they are made out to be the problem. That is not to say that the police department is perfect as is and that police officers do not make wrong decisions that could have and should have been prevented.

Yes, the police officer was driving too fast and breaking policy, and yes a horrible horrible death occurred. BUT why was the CRIMINAL running away from the police? Why was the CRIMINAL driving erratically? Why did the CRIMINAL break the law and end 2 lives that were still so young? You don't want criminals on the street but you think it would be wise to say police should not pursue them when they disregard the law and drive off. Under guidelines, I think chases are a necessary thing to show criminals that they can't get away from the wrong that THEY have done.

Same old story...you don't want the police to do anything until the crime is against you! Many of the comments above are correct, judges do need to be more strict, toughen the DWI laws. I don't hear you say stop police chases when your family member is killed by a drunk driver or when your Grandmother is brutally rapped and robbed and you want the bad guy. Stop police chases and you'll see the highest spike in violent crime you have ever seen. You don't live in a crime riddled neighborhood? Stop police chases and you WILL! What would a criminal have to fear? Any crime they commit, just have a get away plan and hide their identity. Oh, run their tag and arrest them later...the general population has NO idea how many cars in NC alone are registered improperly, or crimes that are committed in stolen cars. But that's okay we say...don't chase...innocent lives are in danger. Wake up society, most officers are doing the best they can. Don't take the very tools they have to do the job away from them. Encourage law enforcement training and education and have the best officers on the job to make the wisest decisions with good discretion.

My heart goes out to the families and I pray for them and the officers involved. Just don't blame every officer when some scumbag can't be stopped quick enough and an innocent person does die as a result. One life IS too much to sacrifice, but how many more are in just as much danger when we don't chase and the repeat offenders drive around reckless, drunk and high!