« 3d Crime Map of San Francisco | Main | Kalifornia »
April 21, 2011
SFPD Police Pursuit Policies
According to the SFPD's General Order 5.05, a vehicle pursuit is an attempt by an officer, while driving an emergency vehicle, to stop a moving motor vehicle when the officer has reasonable cause to stop the vehicle and the driver fails to do so as required by State law.
When it becomes apparent that the benefits of immediate apprehension are clearly outweighed by an unreasonable danger to the officer or others, the pursuit shall not be initiated or, if already in progress, shall be terminated.
An unreasonable danger exists when the reason for apprehending the suspect is clearly outweighed by the danger to persons or property (e.g., when the only reason for the pursuit is traffic violations or a misdemeanor, or a non-violent felony).
Yeah, so I had a cop today hit his horn/buzzer...that sound they make when they see you screwing up. I'd just run a red light and he was behind me, but in an unmarked car. Then, he turned on his lights, but he sat through the red light. It was weird. Like, maybe he was trying to pull me over. It's hard to know for sure. He was sitting at the red light with all of his lights going, like he was frozen for some reason. Very odd. I've never seen a cop do that...sit at a red light with their lights on.
I kept going of course. Like, I'm not going to turn around and go back and see what he wants. I'm not that stupid. But when I got back to the office, I looked up their pursuit policy, and I think that basically, they're not allowed to do "Dirty Harry" style chases through San Francisco just because they saw someone run a red light. They figure that the risk to public safety is too great, so they just let them go. I, for one, think the policy is prudent.
Posted by Rob Kiser on April 21, 2011 at 4:27 PM
Comments