I also believe there should be a discussion about stronger enforcement of child seat laws. This police pursuit accident would not have been nearly as big an issue if the two children had not been ejected from the vehicle and in critical condition. It is sad to drive down the street and see dozens of children, under the age of 5 years, crawling over seats with no restraint. I hope the Chief can figure out a safe solution to police pursuits, but we all know there will be more accidents no matter what the policy. To answer Tim's question, I would write Chief Harrington to offer your services. Chief John Harrington at 367 Grove St. 55101. Tait Danielson West 7th Neighborhood
Message: 1 Date: Wed, 6 Oct 2004 14:44:21 -0500 From: List Manager Subject: [StPaul] Group to Study Pursuit Policies To: "St. Paul Issues Forum" Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed" I just picked this up off the Virtual Block Club E-list, managed by Sergeant Dan Anderson. Does anyone know how a citizen might make themselves available to participate in a study group like this one? ------------------------------------------------------ SAINT PAUL POLICE CHIEF ORDERS POLICE-COMMUNITY WORK GROUP TO STUDY PURSUIT POLICIES Saint Paul Police Chief John Harrington has ordered the impanelment of a working group of community members, police commanders, sergeants and officers to begin a study of police pursuits. The issue stems from a series of pursuits that have ended in serious injury or death around the state. More recently in Saint Paul, a fleeing stolen auto struck a vehicle causing two child passengers to be ejected. Chief Harrington has asked Assistant Chief Dennis Jensen who oversees the Operations and Proactive Services Division to facilitate the work group. The group is expected to begin their work within the next month and present their findings and recommendations early next year. The group's focus will be to study whether and under what circumstances police should pursue offenders in vehicles. Currently in Saint Paul, officers, supervisors and commanders are charged with considering a variety of factors when deciding to pursue or continuing a pursuit of a suspect in a motor vehicle. Some of the factors include, crime severity, speed, recklessness, vehicular and pedestrian traffic volume, etc. "While I believe strongly that a blanket "no pursuit" policy is not in the best interest of public safety, I consider it timely and important that we engage in comprehensive discussions to balance the values of law enforcement and community safety," said Saint Paul Police Chief John Harrington. "I see great value in bringing community members and police personnel at all ranks together to study this issue. I know their work will be challenging, but I am confident that the process itself will bring about an outcome of more effective local policing," he added. ------------------------------------------------------ -- Tim Erickson List Manager St. Paul Issues Forum http://www.e-democracy.org/stpaul/ Hamline Midway Resident 651-643-0722 [EMAIL PROTECTED] --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? vote.yahoo.com - Register online to vote today! _____________________________________________ To Join: St. Paul Issues Forum Rules Discussion Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] _____________________________________________ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/
