Mayor bans all pursuits by police to include on foot and in a vehicle

[Cid_B]

The mayor of a small South Carolina town says she banned her police officers from chasing suspects on foot after an officer was hurt running after a man.

Wellford Mayor Sallie Peake said Monday she issued the order in August after the city had to pay for an officer who missed work after chasing a “guy who had a piece of crack on him.” She said a drug possession charge was not worth the cost to taxpayers. But her written order said she did “not want anyone chasing any suspects whatsoever.”

The decision came after two town-issued cars were totaled within a month, although her order applies only to foot chases.

When a local TV reporter asked about the policy, Peake would not answer and clapped her hands in mock praise that the reporter had found a story.

Video below - worth a watch

http://policelink.monster.com/news/articles/122746-south-carolina-mayor-bans-police-foot-pursuits?page=2

________________________________________________________________

This woman has lost her ever loving mind. One of the best on camera freakouts I have ever seen. I honestly think she didn't realize what she wrote until someone came up and asked her about it with a lens in her face.

God I miss the fine folks of South Carolina...

[Ian David]

1. Is she high on some kind of stimulant? n/t

[Poll_Blind]

2. Yeah, she does look like she lost her mind. I mean, I understand where she's coming from, but...

...she's coming across like...Yeah. Uh...Dude, I can do mayor better than this. They can pay me in ham sandwiches or something. I can phone it in. Make that ham sandwich vouchers, I don't want my ham coming in the mail, if you know what I mean.

PB

[bluestateguy]

3. A blanket ban is probably a bad idea

But is it really worth it for a cop to chase someone running away who is suspected of the "crime" of possessing marijuana?

[paulsby]

6. that's generally up to the officer doing the pursuit

not some micromanaging little emperor who isn't present at the scene.

personally, i don't even think mj should be illegal, but i would probably chase somebody in such a circumstance if he ran.

regardless, it should not be the mayor's decision to ban all foot pursuits.

and if the criminals KNOW the cops can't pursue them on foot, in that town, it incentivizes them to run from police on all contacts.

which is a classic example of poor policy that creates perverse incentives.

i was once injured on a foot pursuit fwiw, in chasing a DUI on foot, after he jumped from his car. imo, that's an acceptable risk.

[Cid_B]

4. There is a ton of cop hate here on DU...

Does anyone think this is a good idea?

[jesus_of_suburbia]

5. This seems crazy. nt

[Libertas1776]

7. There is no need to chase anybody on foot

if TJ Hooker taught us anything, its that you can simply run on a treadmill while a fake scenery rushes past you. Duh.