Killing the Innocent Does Not Save Lives


By Albert Boland
Dobbins, California


April 24, 2005—Once again the California Senate Committee on Public Safety will soon conduct hearings on the issue of innocent bystander deaths and injuries resulting from Hi-speed Police Pursuits on California streets and highways.  

And once again California Law Enforcement will oppose any and all efforts to eliminate the existing IMMUNITY from Civil Liability where Law Enforcement departments are concerned, even though the

California Court of Appeals has openly condemned the existing immunity from Judicial Process as being nothing more than "A get out of liability free card" and referred to Blanket Immunity as "appearing to have shifted too far toward immunity and left Public Safety, as well as compensation for innocent victims, twisting in the wind."

California Law enforcement organizations contend that catching the "Bad Guys" is more important than the safety of the general public, even if it kills the general public in the process

Note: In 1996, Mr. Boland's 18-year-old granddaughter, Sarah, was an innocent bystander killed in a pursuit where the pursuing officer was told to stop the pursuit because of heavy traffic ahead on the highway. The officer refused to back-off and Sarah was killed when the fleeing suspect struck the car in which she was a passenger. When Sarah's parents filed a wrongful death law suit, it was summarily dismissed, and Sarah's parents received a bill from the City of Sacramento for more than $6,000 for the city's legal fees. Fortunately, a judge later ruled that Sarah's parents had suffered enough and did not have to pay -the city's $6,000 bill.


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