Police Hot Pursuits and Loss of Lives

In response to Letters, “Death of 2 in Crash With Police Car,” Jan. 8:

The death of Jessica Warren of Stanton and Dawn Hammond of Costa Mesa on Christmas Day in Westminster is a tragedy that this community will remember with deep sorrow. To state in haste that they were breaking the law by not yielding to the police vehicle does these women a severe injustice.

When the police car hit the car carrying these two young women there was another victim of this car crash that has not yet been identified. It is the police officer who was driving that vehicle. He survived the car crash, but he must now relive this event almost daily for investigators and any litigation that is to follow. If he was improperly trained or supervised, exceeding the speed limit in violation of policies and procedures, or personally negligent, he and the department will be penalized. These are all questions yet to be answered.

In response to L.D. Taylor of Huntington Beach and Robert Feliciano of Downey, I must say that no one can render an opinion based on limited newspaper accounts of an incident, from spontaneous comments made by police administrators and witnesses who may have had only portions of the (information about the) entire incident at their disposal, nor from unidentified skid marks at the scene, long after the vehicles had been towed away. You can’t prejudge these young ladies, nor the police officer, until the investigation has been completed.

JOHN J. JANSON, JR.

Huntington Beach