Why Do Vehicular Pursuits Involve a Delicate Balancing Act - Essay Example

Delicate balancing comes in when a decision about the worthiness of the pursuit or the effects it has on innocent bystanders and other motorists has to be weighed. A delicate balancing act of this high-speed pursuit is necessary because a lot is usually at stake. On one hand, the police want to prevent fleeing criminals from the authority and from facing their criminal charges, and on the other hand, the fact that these high-speed chases put many individuals at risk as mentioned earlier (Stevens, 2011).

Police teach people to be law-abiding and face up to their crimes but not flee from the law. This, therefore, necessitates them to engage fleeing criminals in high-speed vehicular pursuits. Failure to engage them may lead to other fleeing criminals following suit and fleeing at high speed after committing crimes because they know the police will not pursue them. This will decrease the apprehension rate while at the same time encouraging more criminal activities that end up in the criminals fleeing at high speed from the crime scene and maybe even from the country.

The other balance needed is to ensure that innocent citizens that are caught up in this vehicular pursuit are not in any way harmed. This also includes ensuring safety measures for those police officers involved directly in the high-speed pursuit. Some of the measures the police have to put are preventative by educating the public about the potential risks of being caught up in such a pursuit and what they are expected to do immediately after they realize that such a pursuit is ongoing. This may however not prove to be easy because most people do not realize about the high-speed chase until it is too late for them to prevent accidents and even shoot-outs from the criminals or the police. Some people also do not seem to think that this involves them or is their problem in any way and hence put themselves and others at risk (Peak, 2012).

The cost of the pursuit is also an issue of debate in the balancing act. The costs involved include the traffic that will snarl up as a result of the chase and how much in times of time and resources are wasted in that traffic. There is also the cost of the damages that may be incurred including damaged cars, injured people, and even he dead, not to mention how many resources the police force will incur in this chase and which will all be covered by the taxpayers.

This dilemma however much they try to solve remains lurking back at them and especially when criminals start fleeing and innocent citizens are hurt in the process (Kuntz, 2006). Read More