ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, April 23, 1996 TAG: 9604230110
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
THE CHASE ends violently, the price becomes devastatingly clear. A family is wiped out. For what purpose? The apprehension of a fleeing driver who, it turns out, was wanted by police on a string of small charges: trespassing, petty larceny, writing a bad check, failure to appear in court.
Has the public safety been protected?
It is clear, after the outcome is known, that catching 21-year-old Scott Allman was not worth the lives of Thomas Faucher, Lori Mason and their infant daughter, Joleen Faucher - three people whose only involvement in Sunday's high-speed police chase was that their car happened to be at Williamson and Plantation roads at the wrong time.
The events leading to Sunday's tragedy began when a Roanoke County police officer noticed the heavily tinted windows on Allman's automobile and tried to pull him over. Allman sped away; the officer pursued, reportedly thinking at one point that the car might have been stolen. If it had been, was it worth endangering the lives of innocent motorists to recover a stolen car? Was any car worth the three lives that the chase cost?
Is that a fair question? Police surely have to ask a larger one: If they do not try to apprehend lawbreakers - and fleeing from police makes a driver a lawbreaker, even if he or she had committed no other offense - what is to deter crime? How are police to maintain respect for their authority? Long term, wouldn't the public safety be imperiled more if criminals believed police would not try to catch them?
This is a question being debated nationwide, as fatal chases occur in communities across the land.
In some cases, to be sure, a high-speed chase can't be avoided: The fleeing motorist is known to be a violent felon; he or she is a clear danger to the public.
But researchers say most high-speed chases are in pursuit of motorists initially suspected of nothing more serious than traffic violations. It's not unusual to find that the cars they're driving are, indeed, stolen. Most drivers who lead police on these hazardous chases are young men, showing recklessly bad judgment, not to mention disregard for life, by not stopping.
Such behavior is in no way excusable, and the perpetrators must be held responsible and accountable.
But police must consider the immediate public safety, not just the long-term effect on crime, when deciding whether to give chase. Police presumably would not, for instance, draw their guns and shoot at a fleeing robber on a street filled with people. Cars can be equally lethal.
The officer Sunday apparently was aware of the potential for disaster, and reportedly followed departmental procedures - for example, by consulting with a supervisor during the chase and pulling back when approaching a major intersection. He cannot be held responsible for the outcome.
As the events that led to the deaths of three innocent people are reviewed, though, it is reasonable to ask whether police-department policies here and elsewhere are adequate to prevent dangerous high-speed chases except in the most extraordinary circumstances.
LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines KEYWORDS: FATALITYby CNB