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Rise in officer traffic deaths points to need to limit high-speed chases

There have been lots of stories lately about the 37% rise in police officer fatalities last year, from 117 in 2009 to 160 in 2010. Eighteen officers were killed in Texas, more than any other state, and as usual "fatal traffic incidents ... were the leading cause of officer deaths for the 13th straight year." USA Today reports that the data are prompting some departments to reevaluate their policies surrounding high-speed chases, which kill around 360 people per year. Said the paper:Geoffrey Alpert, a professor of criminology at the University of South Carolina  who has studied police pursuits since the 1980s, says the actual number of fatalities is "three or four times higher." Another complicating factor: bystanders killed after police stop chasing suspects ? even seconds afterward ? are not counted...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on January 04, 2011 (boomark / email).