Strange ending to pursuit

[CHPwannaBE]

CHP chased a guy on a motorcycle yesterday through the Newhall Pass,
where the speeds got up into the 130mph range. The only one keeping
up was the CBS2 news chopper, then the motorcyclist justs stops at
the same time the LASD Air 29 unit (out of Palmdale) comes on scene.

Watch the video, and see how NOT to make a felony arrest. I have no
idea what the CHP officer was thinking.
I am not an officer and have no idea what the officer and the biker said,
but I am presuming this is how some cops go home in body bags.

http://cbs2.com/carchase/local_story_298201823.html

(CBS) NEWHALL PASS, Calif. California Highway Patrol officers are
pursuing a motorcyclist on Sierra Highway in the Newhall area who
was allegedly traveling at speeds up to 130 mph, according to
reports.

At one point, pursuing CHP officers tried a pit manuever but the
cyclist, wanted for unspecified reasons, was able to get away.

The chase lasted about 25 minutes and ended when the rider
inexplicably came to a stop.

He was taken into custody after stopping his bike in Agua Dulce on
the Sierra Highway.

[PapaBear]

Watch the video, and see how NOT to make a felony arrest. I have no
idea what the CHP officer was thinking.

I am not an officer and have no idea what the officer and the biker said,
but I am presuming this is how some cops go home in body bags.



I spent over thirty years in law enforcement and without a concise understanding of what the officer knew or felt, I am not in a position to make a judgement call for his actions. As I heard on the news this morning, his supervisors and command personnel are reviewing the incident and I am confident they will render a proper finding. Any incident can be the cause of an officer being carried from a scene in a body bag. That is why there is no such thing as a routine stop. Apply yourself to your desire to become a CHP officer and learn what is out there. Things are not always as they seem.

Tom

[Mac]

Watch the video, and see how NOT to make a felony arrest. I have no
idea what the CHP officer was thinking.
I am not an officer and have no idea what the officer and the biker said,
but I am presuming this is how some cops go home in body bags.
You're right about three things in your post:

1) You have no idea what the officer was thinking. Neither does anybody else, because all you have is news footage taken from a few thousand feet above the scene, and you don't have the training and experience that officer has.

2) You're not an officer. See sentence #2 in #1 above.

3) You have no idea what the officer and biker said. Neither does anybody else, because all you have is news footage taken from a few thousand feet above the scene. What if the conversation went something like "Hey Steve.....I'm your lieutenant (best friend, neighbor, brother-in-law, etc.)! Sorry about that, I screwed up - I know you've gotta do what you've gotta do, just let me take my helmet and jacket off". Can you say with 100% certainty that it DIDN'T go something along those lines? If you weren't there and don't know what was said, it would be pretty ballsy of even another OFFICER to criticize him for his actions.....let alone somebody who has had no training or experience whatsoever other than what they've read and seen on television shows. I've got well over twenty years on the streets and have spent 18 of them TRAINING fellow officers in officer safety/survival....yet I'm not able to say as conclusively as you did that he screwed up. If I were in his boots, I'd certainly appreciate the courtesy of having MY side of the story heard before people rushed to judgment and publicly criticized me without knowing the whole story.

I'm getting increasingly irritated by the 'wannabes' here who already think they know everything there is to know about law enforcement telling officers how to do their jobs and the Department how it should run itself.

[SB 405]

This may sound strange but I thought it was refreshing to see a pursuit end so easy. Wouldn't it be nice if all the bad guys just pulled over and waited for you to arrive.

[Mac]

This may sound strange but I thought it was refreshing to see a pursuit end so easy. Wouldn't it be nice if all the bad guys just pulled over and waited for you to arrive.
LOL....when you consider the possible alternatives, it's a pretty happy ending!

[Lovetoscratch]

Maybe the suspect knew the Chippie............ just my opinion....
Mac don't attack my blog.... j/k

[dw]

At one point, pursuing CHP officers tried a pit manuever but the
cyclist, wanted for unspecified reasons, was able to get away.
Uh-huh....

[Mac]

At one point, pursuing CHP officers tried a pit manuever but the
cyclist, wanted for unspecified reasons, was able to get away.
Uh-huh....
I know.....I know. :badgrin: I was thinking the same thing, didn't even want to go there.

[not5150]

Officer went home safely, suspect in custody, no one else was hurt and there were no collisions during the chase.

What more could you ask for really?

[FDandH]

That's the media for you, the officer did not attempt a pit on the motorcycle. Also, after talking with the officer, I believe he handled the termination just fine. He had a reason why he did it the way he did, his reason was valid and well thought-out.

I told a trainee once, "There will always be somebody who 'knows' how to do your job better than you."

[Mac]

That's the media for you, the officer did not attempt a pit on the motorcycle.
I think most of us already knew that. ;)

I told a trainee once, "There will always be somebody who 'knows' how to do your job better than you."
There you have it.

The only thing worse than being second-guessed by some desk jockey with virtually zero field time is being told how to do your job by some condescending civilian whose knowledge of law enforcement consists of what they've seen on television shows and heard from their great uncle's brother's cousin's nephew's dad who "used to be" a cop. I'll refer back to the ancient pearl of wisdom that says "It's better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt."

[CHPwannaBE]

Now I could be wrong, but he either took off his helmet in the end or lifted his visor, my comment and explanation were geared towards the cop, because as he was approaching the suspect he looked somewhat cautious... taking smaller steps. Once he got close and the suspect started removing things, it was like as if he just "relaxed" for no apparent reason from the angle we saw it at.
The point is from what I saw from the chase is we didn't see the officers reaction until the officer got out of the car and approached the suspect who was removing his leather and either his visor or helmet.. couldn't tell which.
Again this is just my analysis of it, and I have a lot to learn so supportive feedback(MAC)not condescending I feel would be better in this thread.

[SB 405]

Man,this whole thing is fast becoming a real Zapruder film.

[Chipper]

Now I could be wrong, but he either took off his helmet in the end or lifted his visor, my comment and explanation were geared towards the cop, because as he was approaching the suspect he looked somewhat cautious... taking smaller steps. Once he got close and the suspect started removing things, it was like as if he just "relaxed" for no apparent reason from the angle we saw it at.
The point is from what I saw from the chase is we didn't see the officers reaction until the officer got out of the car and approached the suspect who was removing his leather and either his visor or helmet.. couldn't tell which.
Again this is just my analysis of it, and I have a lot to learn so supportive feedback(MAC)not condescending I feel would be better in this thread.


Supportive feedback?? You want us to support you analyzing something you don't have a F****** clue about?? You are right, you have a lot to learn. Start with this- When you don't know what you are talking about, don't speak until spoken to. Nobody asked for your John Madden view of the play and how it developed.

Was I too condescending here?? If and I mean IF you make it to the academy, maybe you'll see what condescending is.

[ResQ]

CHPwannaBE...

I like that you are already thinking of what YOU would do in situations like this. YOU may have handled it differently...YOU may have been more cautious...YOU have some ideas about what a Felony stop should be... those are great. ...but...as you may have already guessed...there are a lot of Officers in here that have their own opinion about what THEY would have done... and the first thing they would have done is back up the Officer making the stop and approach with no questions asked. Protect your brother/sister and let them work through things as they see fit according to the Law...and the information they gather by interacting with the subject. So the real beef here is that you PRESUMED that things were somehow bad...just because a guy runs doesn't mean he is going to kill you...He could...but you will see IF you make it to the road with CHP...that your people skills will become very sharp. You will be able to read people better than you ever thought possible. Until then...be careful HOW you say this stuff. Your perspective is valued, but your experience is transparent. I too was LE before they merged with SS and CATM...and I realize the training I received was good for what we were doing there (in a controlled environment, on base, and immediately off base) and it is NOT the same as being in the real world with CHP. Don't be discouraged, just learn from these other Officers here and that will net you some advantage when your opportunity comes.

Blue Skies

res-q

[CHPwannaBE]

Res-q-pilot thanks for the POSITIVE feedback and HELPFUL information. I didn't come here to get flamed like some people have done to me, and I didn't expect such negative responses from people I wish to be like someday. When joining I couldn't have made any clearer my status than to create my name wannabe, I am just that for now. If I knew everything I wouldn't be on here taking in all the information with an open mind. I guess I won't start a topic or reply to a thread with CHP specific procedures with the worrying of getting treated like im a f***ing idiot because I am not an officer and my thoughts would be treated as if nobody wrote anything at all, or if I didn't write something they would have said I will get responses from people like above who don't seem to give a **** what non LE has to say.

[Welpe]

I didn't come here to get flamed like some people have done to me, and I didn't expect such negative responses from people I wish to be like someday.

Something to consider. Law Enforcement Officer's actions are routinely being second guessed by somebody, usually somebody without any knowledge of or training in law enforcement. Constantly being second guessed gets old fast and were I a CHP officer, the last thing I'd want to see is second guessing on our own forum.

[chp36]

chpwannabe,

If you simply would have asked if the officer did right or wrong, you would have probably got the standard answer of "Officer Safety" and not discussable. Instead, you made a speculation with no training or experience in the field.

If the Golden Gate bridge fell, I don't think any of us officers would try to analyze where the engineers who desinged the bridge went wrong.

Just a bit of advice to all who are reading and posting. Don't criticize without background, training, and experience. In turn, you will not be criticized.

[Mac]

....I guess I won't start a topic or reply to a thread with CHP specific procedures with the worrying of getting treated like im a f***ing idiot because I am not an officer and my thoughts would be treated as if nobody wrote anything at all, or if I didn't write something they would have said I will get responses from people like above who don't seem to give a **** what non LE has to say.
Starting a thread about procedures or discussing an incident is one thing.....but it's another thing entirely when you say things like "Watch this if you want to see how NOT to make a felony arrest", and "I have no idea what that officer was thinking". As chp36 said, if you had simply asked for some thoughts about the incident, the replies would have been entirely different than what you got......it may have been along the lines of "Officer safety - won't discuss it", or maybe some generalized information not directly related to policy or tactics (which are not discussed publicly here).

If you make it into a law enforcement career, you will find that we are a tight-knit group. If one of our own makes a tactical error in a situation, we may call them aside and discuss it privately, but very, very rarely will you see one of us throw another officer down in front of others....much less in a public forum. We've all made mistakes at some point in our career, and we've also all been second-guessed by either people within the department or outside (the media, citizens, etc.).....and you get very tired of people who have no idea what they're talking about telling you how your job should be done. Most people wouldn't THINK of telling their doctor or dentist how a procedure should be done or telling an electrician how to wire their house.....but they sure don't hesitate to spout off about how cops should do their job!

Bottom line is, if you're here to learn, that's fine. There is a lot of good information here, and all of us posting are doing it of our own accord, on our own time. But insulting and second-guessing officers isn't going to win you any popularity points.

[makakona]

i JUST got to watch the video for the first time. we've had so many people ask us about this (mostly at a halloween party last weekend) and my hsuband had never even heard of it. i only knew what i'd read here. interesting.

pit maneuver on a cyclist? oookay! the idiot who wrote that should find a new job. random: while at the academy, my husband listened to an audio of a pit maneuver. imagine his surprise when he heard his dad, who died four years ago, calling the shots! i thought it would have been weird, but my husband said he loved being able to hear his dad's voice again. kind of cool. when they did the superbowl here in 2003, one of the news stations kept running old footage of a previous event held at the murph and dad was in that coverage, too. he hadn't been gone long and it really freaked me out the first time i saw it. but, again, kind of cool how the chp has helped him "live on," if only in old footage and audios.

[CHPGuy]

that was off subject ???

[23112]

that was off subject ???

CHPGuy, are you asking us or telling us? :-)

BTW, I think makakona knew it was "off subject," because she prefaced the story with the word, "random." Thanks for the random snippet, makakona, that was actually pretty cool.

[CHPGuy]

I don't know?>