Police, public at risk from State Police cruiser crashes

[MADem]

Nice and Michael Greeley were just a few miles from home when Michael caught a glimpse of a State Police cruiser hurtling toward their SUV. He had just enough time to say “Oh my god,” and lean toward his wife before the cruiser slammed into the passenger side of the couple’s Honda Pilot, spinning the car into a light post and sending the couple to the hospital.

Trooper David N. Stewart later received a verbal warning for running a red light in the April 2013 Chelmsford crash, the police report shows. The couple’s lawyer criticized the officer for failing to switch on his sirens or pause at the light to make sure the intersection was clear before speeding through — even if he was pursuing a suspect.

“It’s not only negligent,” said Todd Beauregard, the Lowell attorney who recently sued police on behalf of the Greeleys. “It’s reckless.”

Over the past five years, Massachusetts State Police have been involved in more than 1,800 accidents — almost one a day — leaving behind a trail of battered vehicles, expensive lawsuits, and painful injuries to officers and civilians alike. Though many were the fault of other drivers, State Police acknowledge that hundreds were the result of troopers driving too fast, ignoring traffic signals, or violating other safety rules.....

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/10/04/police-cruiser-accidents-leave-trail-battered-vehicles-expensive-lawsuits-painful-injuries/ZN6thlQQSzzDPoAib2JQsI/story.html


These guys don't have dashcams either--so it is their word against everyone they hit....

[In_The_Wind]

1. Massachusetts State Trooper are the best state troopers I've worked with.

[MADem]

3. When they are good they are very very good....and when they are bad, they are horrid.

They need to get those dashcams, like everyone else has. And maybe body cams, too...!


http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/editorials/2012/01/13/charges-against-troopers-show-need-for-state-police-reforms/Hc9gnzSF7LouRQ5ncJiLHN/story.html

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[In_The_Wind]

6. Agreed, dash and body cams are a must for all law enforcement officers.

Oh, and a little more respect for the jobs the troopers do. On more than one occasion I've watched a person driving a car cut off one of our escort troopers. A trooper not assigned to our load pulled one car over.
A few years back I saw a car plow into a trooper escorting one of our loads. omg! We work with lights flashing. Give us a break. We are trying to keep the public safe.

btw: I have a dash cam now.

[Historic NY]

2. Its every where...

drive by any police station or fleet repair. Better yet look for auctions of local and state cars. Lots of reasons, wonder how many are reviewed for disiplinary action.

[MADem]

4. It won't be easy to get that information, I suspect....

State Police said they took several steps to upgrade its system for investigating and reviewing crashes four years ago. The agency also noted in its most recent annual report that it began using new reflective material for cruiser decals and modified the emergency lights after noticing “an inordinate number of cruiser crashes occurring during night-time hours.”

But the agency declined to provide copies of any memos or studies the agency may have issued related to car crashes. And Procopio, a State Police spokesman, said the agency never completed a safety report it publicly announced three years ago after several officers were hurt in accidents.

In addition, State Police took eight months to provide the Globe with five years of crash statistics and resisted providing more detailed records.

For example, the State Police estimated it would cost as much as $130,000 for copies of all the accident reports over the last decade. A spokesman justified the estimate by saying there were so many reports that would need to be reviewed and redacted.

I don't get the impression that they would be terribly forthcoming about that kind of information. I also think they tend to take the word of the police over the word of the citizens as the article suggests.

Without dashcams, it's their word against the civilians they hit....

[glowing]

5. This isn't just a MA issue.. It really is an issue everywhere...

How many times have you been in front or just behind a police car and they are speeding or cruise around you doing the speed limit and take off at least 10mph over the posted limit? It's not like they have an ER or someone they are chasing down, they are just driving on duty, lights and sirens off. I literally had one officer pull out from there station road onto a busy 4-lane highway without stopping at the stop sign and pulling into my lane. If I hadn't slammed on my brakes and moved over to the next lane (thank god at that time I was able to move over into the other lane because most of the time there are cars travelling next to one another 4 lanes abreast), I would have hit him. AND then guess who he would say was at fault from his error?

[MADem]

7. I have to wonder how many of 'em are "going for donuts" to be snarky about it.

I think they need to be an example of following the law. All too often it just looks like they're flouting it because they can....and that doesn't inspire confidence in the citizenry.

The ones who are the worst are the guys at Logan. I've seen them pounding on car hoods and bullying old ladies for not loading their suitcases in a car trunk fast enough in the "Loading and Unloading" zone--that kind of crap needs to just stop.