"In Quotes"

This oath was established by The
National Police Ethics Committee:

“The primary responsibility of the police service and of
the individual officer, is the protection of the people of the United States through the
upholding of their laws.”

“I support law enforcement. My experience has led me to seek changes in California's state
law governing police vehicular police pursuits because it violates the National Police Ethics' oath ."—Candy Priano

"Without accountability, policy, training and supervision are meaningless," 

—D.P. Van Blaricom, Ret. Bellevue, WA, Police Chief


California State Senator Sam Aanestad, author of SB 718: "I introduced"Kristie's Law" (2005) for one simple reason: to save lives. An innocent child in my district was killed in a high-speed police pursuit, and the police weren't even after some violent, dangerous criminal. They were chasing a teenage girl for driving her mother's car without permission. There's something very wrong when the police response to a crime poses a greater threat to public safety than the crime itself." More details about this Deadly Chase, click here.

Some law enforcement groups have come out against the proposed measure, "Kristie's Law." But, other officers say even if the bill does pass, it won't stop them from catching the bad guys.


"We can put out a warrant for their arrest, we can pick them up at their home, they have families in the area and will usually be caught."

Cpl. Dennis Gutierrez, Riverside County Sheriffs, KESQ, Channel 3

"Officers must continually question whether the seriousness of the crime justifies continuing the pursuit. The immediate apprehension of the violator is never more important than the safety of innocent persons or the officer himself.  When it becomes clear that the immediacy of apprehension is outweighed by a clear and present danger to the officer and others, the pursuit must be abandoned."

—Geoffrey Alpert, "Police Pursuits: What We Know"

"I thought of what happened to Kristie Priano and decided this pursuit was not worth it. I stopped the pursuit." 

—A CHP officer who put public safety first while pursuing a man speeding through Chico.
This officer's decision to "back off from the chase" resulted in no injuries and no deaths! ... and the fleeing suspect did not go on to kill or injure someone else after the officer stopped the chase.  

"You give some training in the academy, but if a police officer gets in a pursuit years later, how much training has he or she had?" said Yates in a telephone interview Friday. A patrol car is a potential weapon, he said, and departments say, "Here are the keys" without the needed training. 


"Is it worth the lives and safety of our officers and citizens to chase traffic offenders?  What type of penalty will the offender face if caught?  I'm sorry, but every law enforcement CEO should put the safety of his community above the need to lock up someone.  If their jurisdiction is like Florida, the arrested offender will probably be home before the officer completes his paperwork."

—Chief Steven H. Jones
Orange County Sheriff's Office (Florida)

"Of course, police always say strict guidelines have been followed in each pursuit and then generally blame the driver who was trying to get away. Granted, a pursuit begins when someone tries to flee police, but that doesn't mean a pursuit is necessary. Unless someone is an imminent threat to the public, say taking pot shots at unsuspecting citizens with a semi-automatic weapon from the back seat of a nondescript 1991 sedan, police pursuits are more macho than law enforcement. Big boys with big toys ..."

—Richard Larsen
Deputy Opinion Page Editor
The Ventura County Star, 2002
For the rest of the story, click here.


"In no way are Mr. Norbert [the fleeing suspect] or I blaming this death on the CHP, but certainly there were choices made by the CHP that as a person you might question,"

--Norbert's attorney, Anne Beles of Oakland. More of the story. 

SAN FRANCISO, May 21, 2004 -- Theodore Resnick's death rekindled a long-standing debate over whether car chases on city streets pose too many risks. Berkeley police generally prohibit high-speed chases for traffic violations, but that policy does not extend to the CHP on city streets. 


TEMECULA, January 20, 2004 -- A police decision to stop chasing a driver fleeing at speeds up to 90 mph may have saved lives Monday afternoon, yet did not prevent Temecula officers from making an arrest in the case, authorities said.

"I would like to think it would have been canceled regardless," police Lt. Chris Davis said. "It would have been a poor decision to continue to chase the vehicle when we could identify the driver.  Any time speeding or driving conditions appear to make the risk to the public greater than the need to apprehend the suspect, we'll discontinue the pursuit."

--Reporter Tim O'Leary/The Press-Enterprise 


"It is a proven fact.
High-speed chases kill people."


--Daniel Conway, 54,

After he saw dozens of patrol cars racing by his house at various speeds. A 21-year-old police officer, Daniel Starks, was killed in this pursuit when he ran a stop sign and collided with another police officer as they both raced to join the other officers ... a tragic chain of events that started in a Fort Myers, Florida, nightclub parking lot.  (October 25, 2003)


"Change the pursuit laws so that police will not chase a car because it is stolen.  So if a cop sees a stolen car drive by and doesn't follow, and the car was stolen by a murderer or robber, who then proceeds to kill or injure someone, can the victims or victim's relatives sue the city because the crime would have been prevented if the police had pursued the stolen car?"  

-- Liz Marr, Chico (Source: Chico Enterprise-Record, Letter to the Editor)