[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 70 (Tuesday, May 1, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S5325]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             POLICE CHASES

  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I would like to talk about a decision by 
the Supreme Court yesterday that greatly troubles me. Some many years 
ago, I received a call at 10:31 in the evening that my mother had been 
killed in a car accident. She was killed in a car accident as a result 
of a high-speed police chase. My mother was driving home from visiting 
a friend in the hospital, going 25 or 30 miles an hour on a street in 
Bismarck, ND. A drunk, on Main Street in Bismarck, ND, was spinning his 
wheels on his pickup truck, and the police then decided to apprehend 
him. The drunk driver took flight. Witnesses said he was going 80 to 
100 miles an hour on the city streets. Regrettably, that ended in a 
tragic crash that took the life of my mother.
  I have spent many years here in Congress talking about this issue of 
police chases and training for law enforcement officials, about 
guidelines--when to chase, when not to chase. I have been joined by a 
good number of people around this country who have lost loved ones, 
innocent loved ones who were killed as a result of high-speed police 
chases. One who came to mind was a former member of law enforcement 
whose family member was killed when someone with a taillight that was 
out was to be apprehended by the police, and he took flight and the 
police chased at very high speeds. The family member of this law 
enforcement official was killed as a result.
  In the middle of working on this, over the years, a county sheriff 
called me one day. He heard me speak about it. He said: You know, just 
last week we had a man who was a drunk driver in our community who had 
two little children in the backseat. The sheriff's department attempted 
to apprehend that driver, and he took off at a high rate of speed. The 
sheriff's office decided to discontinue the chase immediately. They got 
a license number. They discontinued the chase. Three hours later, they 
arrested the man.
  He said: It could have turned out differently. We could have chased 
that man at 80 to 100 miles an hour, and the end of that chase could 
have resulted in the death of those children in the backseat of that 
car. But we didn't do that because we had guidelines and we had 
training.
  The Supreme Court yesterday issued a ruling, regrettably, that I 
believe will result in more deaths in this country, deaths of innocent 
bystanders, as a result of high-speed police chases. I think the ruling 
is a horrible ruling.
  Incidentally, the Supreme Court, apparently for the first time in 
history, put a video on their Web site so people could see the chase 
which was the subject of the decision in the case they were 
considering. Let me suggest to the Supreme Court that perhaps they 
could put some other videos on their Web site. I know high-speed police 
chases have become a form of television entertainment all too often, 
but they all too often end in disaster and end with innocent people 
losing their lives. There are other videos they could perhaps put on 
their Web site, if the Supreme Court were interested. Among those 
videos might be the resulting crashes of high-speed police chases in 
the middle of our cities, at 80 and 100 miles an hour, where innocent 
bystanders ended up losing their lives.
  I understand why the police chase when there is a felony, a bank 
robbery, a serious crime. I understand that. What I don't understand is 
this: why chases ensue in these communities because of a broken 
taillight or a person going 5 miles an hour over the speed limit and a 
chase ensues. Yes, the responsibility is in the person fleeing the 
police. Yes, that is the case, I understand that. But that does not 
give rise, in my judgment, to reason to endanger people on the city 
streets with chases at 60, 80, or 100 miles an hour. That is not 
justified.
  Law enforcement needs guidelines. They need training to understand 
what the consequences are--when to chase, when not to chase. 
Regrettably, I believe the Supreme Court ruling yesterday will result 
in more high-speed police chases and more deaths of innocent Americans. 
That is a profound disappointment, not just to me but to many others in 
this country who have seen the results of these high-speed chases.

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