Police Pursuits Claim Innocent Lives

“Woman Killed in Crash With CHP Car Mourned” (March 25) reported on another senseless death caused by a high-speed police chase. This time the innocent victim was Jessica Ann Mohorko, an 18-year-old Hueneme High School senior who ironically was planning a career in law enforcement only to have her life taken away when the car in which she was a passenger was broadsided by a highway patrol car in pursuit of a motorist for “driving erratically.” Shouldn’t we as citizens be able to drive to a restaurant, as was Mohorko, without fear that our lives will be taken from us? Is that too much to ask of our law enforcement system?

When will we as citizens call upon our state Legislature to repeal the statutes that have created a virtual immunity for law enforcement agencies when they are in pursuit of a criminal, even without balancing all the factors that should be taken into consideration before initiating a high-speed chase? The National Assn. of Police Chiefs in Washington has developed an excellent set of guidelines for officers to consider before initiating a chase. The high mortality rate of innocent citizens in California bears witness to the fact that these carefully developed guidelines have been put in the police-car glove compartment, unread.

Tom Harney

Palm Desert

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Police chases on city streets must stop! There were three instances of the death of innocent people in just the last couple of weeks. Catching a thief cannot be important enough to risk the lives of others. My own car was hit broadside by a speeding car being chased by the police 19 years ago, and my passenger was killed instantly.

I am still outraged at the loss and the senselessness of this horrible occurrence. Shortly after, I read that the police reported how this happens in only 18% of the chases. That is 18% too much!

Shirley Freedman

West Hollywood