Jellyfish

[out of touch]

you need to read our legal updates, we can chase a sig ten saying it is a sig 21.....

[deputymyth]

Guest, You complain about not being able to pursue; I give you the rules/SOP/legal opinion about authorized pursuits and then you start complaining about lawsuits. We all know that if all goes well everyone is happy, but if it goes bad we eat it. Hero to zero in a second. Law enforcement is a risky business and we all take risk everyday. You have to balance risk vs. reward on a daily basis and I believe the rules address that. If you don't want to pursue because of civil liablity or risk of injuring others or yourself, thats fine, but then don't talk out both sides of your mouth that we can't pursue.

I will continue to pursue under the guidelines, until a supervisor calls me off or I determine it isn't worth it. I believe the majority of the public wants us to pursue under the right conditions, but it is only those that scream the loudest about the dangers that seem to be heard.

When the chase starts either stay on his six or get outta of my way.

[Guest]

On January 21, 2012, at approximately 8:55 pm, the manager of Nortrax John Deere Forestry Equipment contact HCSO to report a 25 ft. International box truck was just reported stolen in Pasco County and was now being tracked by GPS in Hillsborough County near US 301 and Adamo Drive.

At approximately 9:00 pm a deputy spotted the stolen stuck travelling on US 301 near Causeway Blvd and followed it until assisting deputies could arrive.

Additional deputies arrived and they attempted to box the truck in at 24th Ave and 50th South with their patrol vehicles. The truck slowed then accelerated forward, stopped and accelerated in reverse crashing and disabling one patrol vehicle. Fortunately the deputy in the crashed patrol vehicle was not injured.

Other deputies on scene approached the stolen truck at gunpoint and ordered the driver to exit the truck. The driver accelerated the truck again this time towards a deputy on foot nearly striking him. The deputy was able to take an evasive maneuver and avoided being struck. No shots were fired and the pursuit began.

With the assistance of Tampa Police Department and the Florida Highway Patrol the pursuit travelled through Hillsborough County, City of Tampa, and the City of Temple Terrace. Stop sticks were deployed successfully at numerous locations deflating the truck tires but the truck was able to continue at slow speeds on its bare wheels and rims.

The pursuit continued north on US 301 approximately 25 miles into Pasco County, through the City of Zephyrhills and Dade City. The Pasco County Sheriff's Office assisted by blocking intersections and deploying stop sticks.

At approximately 10:30 pm and several miles north of Dade City, the truck turned west on Christian Road, which eventually turns into a dirt road. What remained of the truck's rims and undercarriage dug into the dirt disabling the truck and ending the pursuit. Each of the truck's six tires was either flat or missing completely. This pursuit never exceeded 55 mph and averaged approximately 40 mph and at times traveled as slow as 13 miles per hour.

Johnny May has an extensive criminal history for drug related crimes and fleeing law enforcement. Additionally, he is currently on probation in Hillsborough County for Fleeing to Elude. There were no injuries in this pursuit and the only property damage was approximately $12,000.00 dollars to the marked patrol vehicle May rammed at the initial traffic stop.

HCSO will process warrants to have Brown transferred from the Pasco County Jail to the Hillsborough County Jail.

[Guest]

last time i checked state statute requires someone to come to the aid of law enforcement when requested. if tpd was requesting help and some lt told units not to assist as requested then that lt needs to be set straight. when cops ask for help other cops should assist. period. it would have been terrible if that pursuit ended in d2 somewhere and the tpd cop ended up getting into a fight with the suspects and hurt or killed because nobody was there to help him.

[check again]

last time i checked state statute requires someone to come to the aid of law enforcement when requested. if tpd was requesting help and some lt told units not to assist as requested then that lt needs to be set straight. when cops ask for help other cops should assist. period. it would have been terrible if that pursuit ended in d2 somewhere and the tpd cop ended up getting into a fight with the suspects and hurt or killed because nobody was there to help him.

You might want to check again and come up with the specific statute and quote it in its entirety here on this thread.

It might not be as clear cut as you think you recall.

[Guest]

The only way to keep the growing population of thugs in Hillsborough County from fleeing every time a Deputy tries to pull them over, is for the thugs to know in their minds that HCSO will pursue them. You just have to wonder how many of the crashes that seem to always happen after the LEO stops pursuing, would not have happened at all if the driver of the fleeing vehicle knew the LEO would pursue. Think about it, what thug would'nt run if he believed the LEO would not pursue him? Also, does this mean that the only people that get stopped in Hillsborough County are the upstanding citizens who abide by the laws and pull over during a traffic stop? So they get a ticket while the vehicle you tried to stop just prior to them with a habitual traffic violator behind the wheel ran from you and got off w/o anything. Real fair way of enforcing the laws..

[Guest]

Let's be honest: The decision of a traffic violator on whether or not he/she stops when signaled by an HCSO vehicle, via Lights and Siren is at the sole discretion of the traffic violator.

Fin.

That Sheriff you guys have over in Hillsborough really makes em shake in their boots!

[Guest]

If they run from you, do everything you can, but follow the rules. There are often ways to to try to identify the driver both during the attempted stop and afterward. Don't ever just give up when you turn your lights off. Do your best to go get that person later on. We may have to play by the office's rules, but we can still do our best to make the bad guys work for it.