Hazards of Police Pursuits Police pursuits consist of a fleeing suspect, an officer and many innocent bystanders. Although we cannot alter the actions made by those fleeing suspects during a pursuit; changes as to how they are pursued can be made. The innocent bystanders and officers become victims of this pursuit by having their lives put in danger. The officer essentially creates hazards during the pursuit with his speed, emotions involved and lack of training. Fleeing suspects are not concerned with the safety of others or themselves, therefore they travel at high speeds which evidently calls for the officer to do the same. As stated in Let 's be honest about our driving speed by Capt. Travis Yates, "Since 1999, 43 percent of the officers …show more content…
As said by Capt. Travis Yates in How we die - the untold story "One in every five of the officers was responding to assist the officers when the deadly collisions occurred." This is important to understand because an officer hearing that his brother or sister needs him will not only incorporate speed but his or her emotions as well. Imagine hearing that call, an officer immediately puts their foot on the gas going full throttle wherever the call for help is coming from. This is done through the sheer emotions of the officer, while doing so, this causes tunnel vision which is a hazard to pedestrians and the officer. While focusing on getting to the destination, the adrenaline and thoughts of the officer block off important senses such as peripheral vision. While amped up about the call, the fast beating heart of the officer is the only tempo that he knows and controls the officer 's actions by deterring his actions. Which ultimately causes the officer to forget basic safety such as yielding at intersections and paying attention to surroundings. Actions such as those, lead to policy that can be frowned upon with officers who pursuit safely, "There was also a mandate for officers to stop completely at all intersections. The policy was not popular with all" (Capt. Travis