Court TVs "Anatomy of Pursuit": Pursuing the Truth

I'm watching "Court TV". The show is "Anatomy of Crime: Hot Pursuit". It's showing most of the issues surrounding high-speed pursuits between cops and criminals. I say most because they are concentrating on the cops and the innocent people who are hurt or killed during the course of the pursuit. I hear people talking about how the cops are at fault, that the pursuit never should have happened, how the policy in one case allowed the bad guy to go free, but the cop felt at fault for letting him get away, on and on and on.

But guess what is missing? The fact that the criminals being pursued are at fault. Perhaps its a sign of the times that we blame everyone but those responsible. Society is at fault, the government is at fault, blah, blah, blah. But what about the criminals themselves? What of them? Are they not at fault? Not according to this show. It would appear that running from the cops is the way to go. Go ahead! Do it! Even if you hurt or kill someone else, you won't be at fault! It will be the cops fault! It will be the government's fault! The victims will blame both of them and you'll be free and clear! Hell, it might even put you up in the eyes of your cellmates. (One of whom, I hope, is named, "Rufus T. Buttlove.")

And now they're talking about prosecuting cops for participating in high-speed pursuits. Just what your average beat cop needs, another armchair quarterback. (Note: I really loved the fact that one of the people talking most stridently about going after cops if the pursuit goes wrong is a "Professor of Criminology". One of the types of people I detest the most are armchair academics. They feel that they can solve all of the worlds problems with talk and reason. Yeah, prof, whatever...) None of the people talking about prosecuting cops are (or were) cops. Hmmm.

Could we make fleeing from cops in a vehicle (not on foot) a crime similar to firing a gun in public? Think about it. A thousand pounds of vehicle is a very deadly weapon, especially at high speeds. If we consider it a deadly force crime, the cops would be allowed to shoot at the criminals. I've seen many pursuits where the cops were able to, at one point, get close to the driver. They were able to reach in to the car, but they could not wrestle with the perpetrator. I think that if they were allowed to shoot the criminals, the pursuit would be over much quicker. Further, the criminals would think twice about fleeing if they knew the cops could shoot them for it.

Okay, all (sick) joking aside, here's the problem. Today, running from the police stands at the same level as drunk driving did many years ago. Then, Candy Lightner started MADD in 1980. That changed the way people looked at driving drunk. It's not funny anymore. But high speed pursuits are still cool, or not that big a deal. It's almost funny. People love watching them on TV. (Remember the so-called "pursuit" of OJ Simpson?) But they shouldn't be cool anymore. People need to look at them as sick and disgusting. How would they feel if, instead of a car weaving erratically all over the road, the helicopter camera showed a man with a gun indiscriminately shooting people? How would they feel? Thrilled? Or disgusted? That's how we should feel when we see a high-speed pursuit.