[thwarted]

These are terrible examples. The point of the sirens is to let other people know to be aware when the police find it necessary to break the rules. "timely but not urgent" doesn't make any sense if, because the police decide to drive on the wrong side of the road to avoid traffic so they can get there in a timely fashion, they get into a head-on collision because the other drivers were not expecting it. The sirens are on because the rules are being broken by police, the sirens are not orthogonal to breaking traffic laws.

It's in the best interest of the police and for scoping out the area around where a theft has occurred to not draw attention to themselves, by both NOT turning on sirens on AND by not skirting traffic laws. If they are are intent on not alerting the criminal, then driving normally would help with that. And if they are driving normally, then there is no need for sirens then either.

[AnthonyMouse]

You want a better example? Suppose the officer is covertly following a suspect of a serious crime to see where he goes. Turning on lights and sirens will obviously give the officer away. The suspect is violating various traffic laws as many people often do (speeding, ignoring "no turn on red" etc.) and the officer has to match the violations or lose the suspect.

The point is, zero tolerance is stupid. We need to have an appropriate balance between clear rules and discretion, so that the law actually means something rather than only being whatever the prosecutor says it is, without being so overly rigid that you have people being prosecuted for doing harmless or beneficial things.

The existing law is very, very far away from being overly rigid. Government officials have far too much discretion and get away with far too much. But it is theoretically possible to go too far the other way -- we just haven't, and never have to worry about doing so in practice, because of the politics of the situation. Politics making zero tolerance for police misconduct unachievable in practice doesn't mean it would be a good idea even if we could manage to implement it.

[thwarted]

This is a bad example too, and is pretty much the same example I already refuted. The point here is that there is no such thing as "covertly following" if the police are disobeying traffic laws. They'd have to be close enough to keep track of the suspect, and that means the suspect will see that someone else is "matching their violations". In this case, many police departments will not pursue because a chase endangers too many lives (I don't have a reference handy for this, but I believe I read about here on HN some months back).

Yes, zero tolerance is stupid, and this remains a bad example.

[AnthonyMouse]

>The point here is that there is no such thing as "covertly following" if the police are disobeying traffic laws.

If the suspect is flagrantly running red lights or driving 140 in a 55, someone else doing the same thing is going to be conspicuous. If the suspect is ignoring "no turn on red" signs or driving 65 in a 55, they're doing the same thing as 80+% of other motorists and someone else doing the same thing is not going to stand out.

> In this case, many police departments will not pursue because a chase endangers too many lives (I don't have a reference handy for this, but I believe I read about here on HN some months back).

You're referring to situations where the suspect is aware of the pursuit.

[vacri]

Are you aware that there are often long stretches of road which, if you follow the traffic rules completely, take you quite a ways out of your way before you can double back? Similarly, using sirens late at night in urban areas for non-emergency events is not pleasant for residents.

[quinnchr]

Are you suggesting convenience is more important than the safety of everyone else on the road?

Please don't forget the fact that you have the privilege of being encased in a few tons of steel with multiple safety systems. When doing your moral calculus and weighing how many lives are worth risking to save time, please remember there are other people on the road who don't have that privilege. Cyclists have to be constantly aware of cars breaking traffic laws if they want to stay alive, and they are not as visible as you would like to imagine.

If there is a non-zero chance of causing an accident and harming someone by breaking traffic laws, and the only benefit is saving time or not annoying residents, how do you justify that?

[vacri]

If there is a non-zero chance of causing an accident and harming someone by breaking traffic laws, and the only benefit is saving time or not annoying residents, how do you justify that?

I justify that because I am not an absolutist. If you're really going for the 'what price a life' argument, unless you're giving your entire income and free time (excluding enough to keep yourself alive) to a relevant charity (say, clearing minefields), you also don't believe in 'any-percentage-over-zero-is-too-high'.

[3825]

Sometimes they just turn their lights on especially in small towns at night

[vacri]

Absolutely. I've also seen a police car slowly enter a no-entry T-intersaction in the dead of night, the road behind being two-way. No other cars moving, and they were going slowly enough that even someone with a walking stick could have escaped their movement. Nevertheless, they still broke the law, something that would not be allowed under 'zero tolerance'.