[ck2]

Was it responsible for the police to chase them at this time?

two vehicles full of people involved in some type of criminal activity

Was this yet another incident where the police self-escalated the situation?

I sure hope there was a precise reason this happened and not that "they smelled pot".

[seanmcdirmid]

How can we even judge? The police back off often when they sense that a chase is too dangerous, they make a judgement call. Sometimes they don't have perfect information however, and shit just happens. It is not like the movies.

I'm sure the officers involved are second guessing their behavior now, its not like people die every day like this. But really, its a tough job, we aren't really in a position to judge.

[ck2]

Police in the US are notorious for causing chases in dangerously crowded areas and endangering innocents.

So much so they had to pass laws to make it illegal for police to do chases in many cities/situations to stop them.

http://www.pursuitsafety.org/

http://kristieslaw.org/

http://abcnews.go.com/US/police-chases-california-injured-10...

More bystanders are injured or killed during high-speed police chases than by stray bullets. In California, more than 10,000 people have been injured and over 300 people killed because of police chases in the last decade, according to newly released statistics from the California Highway Patrol.

Nationally, it's estimated nearly 300 people die each year as a result of high speed police chases.

[ramblerman]

> Nationally, it's estimated nearly 300 people die each year as a result of high speed police chases.

That's a huge number. I'd love to know how many of those 300 are innocent bystanders. The fact that people involved in the chase (i.e. those running away) lose their lives seems like it's part of the risk.

[ck2]

They don't count those - they don't even count the baby that was in the SUV one guy stole and it flew out of the window during the police chase.

[Sprint]

Are you seriously blaming the police for the death of that? Surely it is the guy's fault for stealing a car with a child in it and recklessly driving it.

[jakeybob]

I think he's just suggesting that the baby definitely should count as an innocent bystander.

[corin_]

"Blame" might be too far but there's definitely an argument to suggest they caused the baby's death, in that if they hadn't chased then maybe he wouldn't have driven so recklessly. Hence this whole discussion.

[corresation]

"They don't count those"

Citation required. The language seems intentionally very vague and inclusive, which seems to be supported by-

http://www.nytimes.com/1992/12/26/us/alarmed-by-deaths-in-ca...

"Experts say there are few national figures on police pursuits. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration figures, based on reports from police departments, show that 305 people died in pursuits in 1991.

Of these deaths, 250 were reported to be occupants of fleeing vehicles, 46 were third-party victims in uninvolved vehicles, four were occupants of police vehicles and five were pedestrians."

Unless pursuit deaths rose a magnitude plus, I think you are misrepresenting some facts.

[khuey]

It's worth noting that the vast majority of these chases happen in Southern California. It's a relatively localized phenomenon.

[tnohtyp]

Notorious? None of those links provide evidence to support that generalization, do you have a source that can?

[virtualwhys]

Normally I'd agree, but if you read the entirety of the article (or even half of it) you'll pick up the bit about the fatal shooting at the original scene of the crime (not sure if an officer was killed or one of the alleged criminals).

It's debatable what to do in the aftermath, pursue (the instant gut reaction) or sit tight and hope that other officers in the vicinity can intervene. Usually it's the former, and the consequences seem to involve carnage in one way or another (obviously tragic in this case as an innocent bystander was killed).

[JackFr]

All of the suspects in the fleeing car had outstanding arrest warrants.

[wavefunction]

I wonder if this is related to the Three Strikes laws prevalent throughout the US:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-strikes_law

Sometimes these criminals have nothing to lose, over even relatively insignificant infractions that will definitely result in life sentences. Not that I'm condoning criminal behavior in any way.