We recently penned an editorial that mentioned Washington state’s extremely foolish policy of banning car chases of most suspects above the speed limit. As you might imagine, it has had some unintended consequences.
The policy, which has only very limited exceptions where car chases are permitted, has caused a surge in auto thefts. More than a thousand people have evaded state troopers this year by simply driving a few miles per hour above the speed limit and refusing to pull over. (That isn’t even counting local police.) Assuming that they use stolen cars, something most criminals do when they use vehicles in a crime, this policy lets criminals off scot-free.
By tying the hands of the police, Washington mistakenly legalized many other crimes, at least in effect. Already, legislators in the Evergreen State are regretting what they’ve done. There is a bipartisan effort (frustrated for the moment) to repeal the dumb law that made it happen. But Chicago is now telling Washington state to hold its beer — it’s got an even better idea.
There is at least an argument for limiting high-speed police car chases in some circumstances. They do, after all, create an inherently dangerous situation for innocent bystanders. But Chicago is now banning its police from chasing suspects on foot in most cases. The exceptions, once again, are limited. Police can chase those who are caught in the act of committing felonies or Class A misdemeanors, or those about to commit felonies or endangering the public (for example, by driving drunk, although this would presumably not apply in the case of a foot chase).
Moreover, every foot chase will result in voluminous paperwork and receive two separate reviews within the police bureaucracy.
This policy resulted from two police shootings that occurred at the end of foot chases. In both of those cases, however, the fleeing suspects were carrying handguns — a Class A misdemeanor. So it appears that NPR is in error in suggesting that the new policy would have prevented either chase. Cook County District Attorney Kim Foxx, of Jussie Smollett fame, declined to charge the police involved in either shooting. However, because one of the suspects, Anthony Alvarez, was supposedly being chased for traffic offenses, not necessarily for carrying an illegal gun, there might be some gray area in that case.
On paper, the new policy allows foot chases in cases of residence and retail theft. But it is going to help many criminals get away with those offenses all the same. Just put yourself in the position of the officer on the scene. Why put your career on the line and endure the physical inconvenience of chasing someone, plus the extra paperwork, on the off chance that the guy who just ran out of the store has taken something without paying for it?
Did you actually see him take it? If not, then it could be determined later that you lacked a basis for chasing him. You’ll be disciplined. It seems much more prudent to interview a couple of witnesses and let the guy get away. After all, he isn’t necessarily threatening anyone in the act of flight. He’s just trying to escape.
If you know whom the suspect is, you can try to confront him at his residence later. But then, if he runs away, you still can’t chase him!
Good luck doing your job under those circumstances.
It is worth repeating that the shootings that led to this new policy both involved suspects fleeing the police with handguns. That seems relevant. One of them involved an alleged gun crime, too — a 21-year-old perpetrator had been firing his pistol in public. Tragically, he handed off his gun to a 13-year-old boy when the cops came. The boy, Adam Toledo, was the one shot and killed. The 21-year-old was released on bail.
This highlights the fact that the enforcement of less serious infractions often helps police put hardened criminals behind bars and thwart more serious crimes. That’s how they cleaned up New York City in the 1990s. The failure to keep it up is the reason so many cities are going downhill today.
So, to recap, we are supposed to view guns as evil but feel sympathy for and even perhaps avoid chasing those who carry them and even use them against people in urban environments. This is why crime is on the rise.
The only form of gun control that actually works, it turns out, is to throw the book at violent and career criminals. When they are in prison, they have fewer opportunities to shoot people. There is no point in passing any gun control law, or in complaining about innocent people’s Second Amendment rights, if you’re not even willing to do the obvious.
