High speed chases: should the police continue them?

[Radar Chief]

It started with this.

http://www.kmbz.com/Driver-killed-af...chase/18166251
Posted: Monday, 13 January 2014 1:30PM

Driver killed after high-speed police chase

A police chase involving Independence police ended in a deadly wreck in Kansas City on Monday morning.

Kansas City police say Independence police had been involved in a high-speed chase with a silver vehicle, after an officer saw the car speeding. The officer reportedly ended the chase at 23rd and Wheeling Avenue, but came upon the wreck at 23rd and Hardesty. The suspect car had crashed into a second car just after 10:30 a.m. The driver of the second vehicle was killed and two passengers were seriously injured in the wreck.

The driver who was involved in the chase has been taken to the hospital for treatment of his injuries.

Listening to political talk radio it went from there to blaming the police for continuing to chase a guy that obviously wasn’t pulling over. Then this morning I see this article.

http://www.kmbz.com/pages/18171922.p...entId=14529141
Posted: Tuesday, 14 January 2014 4:54AM

Questions remain about the Independence police chase policy

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. - A Kansas City attorney says Independence Police need to make some big changes.

Sean Pickett represented a family who lost it's teenage son struck, by a suspect in a chase along Noland Road in 2007. He says Independence Police have a reputation for high speed pursuits, even for minor infractions.

"A lot of it has to do historically with some of the crimes that they've been trying to fight over the years, but they still have to adapt crime enforcement to safety for the public. Which I don't think they've done a good job at," says Pickett.

Pickett says lots of Independence officers want the policy changed. The non-profit group, 'Pursuit Safety,' claims over 90% of police chases nationwide are for non-violent crimes and at least 35% end with crashes.

So what is the Planets take, should police continue chasing someone who’s only known crime is speeding or should they back off and let the chips fall where they may?