Opinion: Police chases are too risky

Stealing a car should not carry a roving death sentence, but it has for suspects behind the wheel and for innocent motorists on our crowded roads. It happened again Wednesday, after a Hillsborough County sheriff's deputy chased a stolen Honda. The 17-year-old suspect ran a red light, slammed into construction barriers and careened into a 9-foot pile of sand. His death was the fourth chase-related fatality for the sheriff's office in three months and at least the 31st in the bay area since 1993.

Let's rid the air of one thing: This issue is not about allowing car thieves to go free, nor is it about the arguable claim by authorities that chase policies deter car theft in the first place. Obviously, the problem exists because people steal cars and tempt law enforcement officers to do their job. The point is not to place blame -- that is easy enough -- but to realize that the effect of chasing car thieves is to turn property crimes into deadly public risks.

Most officers would never dream about shooting at a suspect on a crowded highway, yet for some reason it's okay to turn stolen cars into deadly missiles. The most recent chase is characteristic. Kid steals car and does whatever it takes to elude law enforcement. It is fortunate no one else was hurt or killed when the suspect ran the red light. The police, too, are put at great personal risk, well beyond the danger befitting the crime.

Police routinely weigh the risks to public safety when doing their jobs, such as in hostage and robbery situations. That same approach should apply to apprehending car thieves. While several local police agencies defend their chase policies, the reality is that the pursuing officer has lost control of a life-or-death situation. Chase policies in that sense are meaningless, because they apply only to one party involved -- the pursuing police officer who can only watch and react to the maneuvers in front of him.

It's easy for supporters of the chase policy to blame the suspects and walk away from the pain that's caused. Chase policies are predicated on risks society would never tolerate in any other police action. It would be good to see the mayoral candidates in Tampa, where the police chase full-bore, level with the public on the risks society is forced to take to make the city leadership look tough. More than 30 deaths in nine years is not proof that a chase policy works; it's proof the policy is a danger to the public.

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