Editorial: The threat of the chase
West Sayville, NY: Suffolk County sheriff deputies were in pursuit of suspects in this vehicle when it crashed into another vehicle at the intersection of the westbound service road of Sunrise Highway and Lincoln Avenue on June 27. Credit: Photo by James Carbone
This hot pursuit should never have happened.
Monday, Suffolk County sheriff's deputies chased a Lincoln Town Car carrying three people suspected of stealing $4,000 worth of clothes. Because of that, Gail Sacher, 62, of Holbrook, is dead. She was killed when the fleeing Town Car slammed into her Subaru near Sunrise Highway in Bohemia.
The officers involved didn't break any rules -- they were following procedures common among departments. In Suffolk, officers can pursue suspects who avoid arrest, commit violent felonies or are a danger to other motorists. Deputies must establish contact with a supervisor and are supposed to end a pursuit if it begins to endanger an officer, motorists or pedestrians.
These policies, though, rely on snap judgments and can value property over public safety. It often isn't possible to tell when a chase is dangerous until it goes bad.
Officials say there was no reason to believe the suspects, who allowed themselves to be pulled over on the LIE, then sped off when officers approached the vehicle, were dangerous. Clearly, chasing them was. Thieves need to be punished, but the officers should have let them flee and arrested them later.
Unless suspects present an obvious threat, police shouldn't engage in car chases with them. It creates a hazard where none existed before. Innocent motorists don't need to die for $4,000 worth of merchandise.hN
