Arkansas State Police have been filmed leaping a Dodge Charger cruiser at greater than 100 mph final month throughout a site visitors cease turned automobile chase. The officers virtually hit a phone pole and eventually stopped after they realized they’d badly broken their cruiser within the chase, begging the query: what was all of it for?
On October 15, state trooper Jackson Shumate pulled over a Dodge Charger driver in Arkansas, stories CarScoops. The motive force stopped, however then fled the scene as soon as Shumate was out of his cruiser.
The officer jumped again of their automobile and sped after the motive force. Within the course of, they launched their police-issued Dodge Charger over a pace hump at virtually 100 mph, in response to dashcam footage of the chase shared on-line. The automobile got here clattering again all the way down to earth after the soar, virtually hitting a phone pole and performing some critical injury to the cruiser within the course of.
At no level within the video, which you’ll see for your self above, does Shumate get anyplace close to the automobile they’re chasing regardless of hitting speeds that have been effectively in extra of the posted restrict. Finally, the motive force acquired away, as CarScoops provides:
Shumate audibly reacts and barely avoids hitting a phone pole. Shortly thereafter, he realizes he has an issue. “It’s acquired fairly a spot on me, I feel I broke my oil pan,” Shumate says. In accordance with the video description, the suspect did certainly get away. That is removed from the one case the place plainly suspects evade seize whereas ASP drives at double and even triple the pace restrict to catch them.
The perp acquired away, the automobile was badly broken leaving legislation enforcement with a pricey restore invoice and the lives of different highway customers have been put in danger by the 100-mile-an-hour-chase. So actually, what was the purpose?
America is awash with tales of excessive pace police chases, whether or not it’s cops chasing drivers evading site visitors stops like this, or officers pursuing doubtlessly stolen vehicles in reverse down busy highways. Hardly ever do these sorts of tales finish in a profitable arrest, and as a substitute they typically lead to extreme property injury and even the dying of harmless bystanders.
The Division of Transportation stories that there are roughly 250,000 excessive pace chases within the U.S. yearly and between 6,000 and eight,000 of these finish in crashes, stories the Florida Division of Regulation Enforcement.
If it’s simply the police automobile that’s broken within the crash, the invoice for taxpayers is already eye-watering. Officers in Arkansas lately acquired approval for a $5.8 million buy of 150 new vehicles for its officers, which places every automobile within the new fleet at round $40,000. You write off 6,000 Dodge Charger police cruisers and also you’re a invoice of $240 million to exchange them.
Then there’s the injury to non-public property that may happen. A 2022 report from Pennsylvania Police discovered that the typical injury per high-speed chase amounted to roughly $404 for the police, $774 for the violators and a ridiculous $913 for uninvolved individuals.
On prime of that, harmless bystanders may discover themselves on the receiving finish of a hefty medical invoice as effectively, as Florida police add that shut to five,000 individuals choose up accidents in police chases yearly. That’s earlier than you get to the one in 500 chases that tragically result in the dying of an individual.
There needs to be a greater option to ticket a rushing driver than this present marketing campaign of dying and destruction.
