what percentage of car chases do cops lose?

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2008-05-15 18:57:43 +0000	I have been a cop for 15 years, I have been in about 20 high speed chases, very scary, but i have only lost one or one did get away... he was on a bullet bike CBR 900 R/R and knew how to drive it... he left our helicopter in the dust... Now foot chases are a different story.. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

2008-05-15 19:25:54 +0000	Impossible to give you a fair answer. There are too many variables. Our department policy is to not chase for JUST a traffic offense. Its LEGAL to chase, but against department policy for those offenses. So sometimes you light up a guy and he rolls out, you don't have anything more than a stop light violation, you are supposed to turn off your equipment and let him go. Some officers do immediately, some give him a few blocks to change his mind, some "encourage" him to change his mind, and some chase him til the wheels fall off. Sometimes a felony vehicle pursuit is called off by command staff due to whatever reason (fear of paperwork being foremost, no joke!) and the officers let the guy go. Some officers CAN'T drive....like literally got their driver's license to enroll in the academy as its a requirement and are LEARNING to drive in a police car....so scary...they mess up chases sometimes. Other officers would have a great career as professional racecar drivers.....I will say, that when a violent crime has just occurred and is tied to a vehicle and we are chasing it all out, everyone coming, helicopter sweeping in, I've NEVER seen one of those guys get away. So its a crapshoot. When the lights start flashing, its up to which officer you have behind you, how serious the offense you commited is, and how much you want to pick up an extra charge. In my juridiction it is an arrestable offense to avoid a traffic stop, and a felony if you drive recklessly endangering the lives and property of others in order to attempt escape. Some officers take it more personally than others. Ultimately, whether a driver gets away or not does NOT depend on how good a driver or awesome his car is, its whether or not he drives so damned stupid that he is going to get himself or someone else killed more than an officer believes he needs to go to jail. We let far more people go, than actually 'escape' from us. No one keeps a real stats of this, so your not going to find an accurate percentage. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

2008-05-15 18:50:42 +0000	I really dont know, but in the last 10 years, I'd say more cops are willing to let them get away rather than chase them til they wipe out. Unless the guy is armed, has a hostage or made a threat you think he'll follow through on, it's safer for the public. Most of the time it's a drunk driver or a teenager joyriding. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

2008-05-15 19:01:51 +0000	There is a large percentage of agencies that restrict pursuits due to the liability issue that comes with them. The 1st agency I worked for said that if you were involved in a pursuit and it was not felony-related, that you had to terminate after 3 minutes. The agency I am with now just says that the officer involved must weigh the circumstances to determine whether or not pursuit is justified. That all being said, it would be hard to pinpoint a percentage of offenders that escape due to the huge difference in pursuit policies from one agency to another. I personally have not lost any of the bad guys, though I have only been involved in 2 pursuits. One ended with the bad guy driving his mustang head long into the side of a mountain at about 80 mph, and the other was terminated by my partner with a P.I.T. maneuver. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

2008-05-15 18:51:09 +0000	Actually you would be surprised. Some counties and states have laws that prevent chases from going on for long lengths of time, unless the person being chased is a convicted felon on the run from the law. There is a high likelihood of someone getting hurt during a long chase, and many counties don't want their police officers to place that risk on the community unless the threat is warranted. I also heard of places that have a no-chase policy for anyone on a motorcycle, because of the risk to the cyclist. Despite this however, don't get any ideas about trying to outrun your speeding ticket. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

2008-05-15 18:45:34 +0000	I would imagine somewhere in the 1% range. The longer the person tries to get away, the more police they will draw towards them. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No