The Virginian-Pilot
                             THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Friday, February 10, 1995              TAG: 9502090031
SECTION: FRONT                    PAGE: A12  EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Letter 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   30 lines

NO CHASE NEEDED

I feel I have to respond to the people who think a continued chase of a vehicle in a congested area is OK/justified.

I support the police, city and state for protecting me and my family from criminals such as the driver of the van in the recent chase. However, I believe logic should be used when pursuit at high speed is implemented. In this case, common logic was definitely not used.

The vehicle that was being chased by the police, needlessly, had already been identified as belonging to Nansemond Heating & Cooling, and the company had been contacted via telephone by police during the chase. Don't you ``justifiers'' think the police are smart enough to find out who was driving the vehicle in question by fingerprints or just a process of elimination through checking employee records. Then they could make an arrest.

Now I am not only afraid of being shot; I also have to watch out for pursued vehicles.

GORDON RYLAND

Virginia Beach, Jan. 27, 1995 by CNB