Police Chases now in Question?

At 10:42pm near Atlanta, Victor Harris was clocked going 73 mph in a 55 mph zone by Coweta County deputy, Clint Reynolds. Rather than stopping, Harris sped up and fled the officer. At this point, Deputy Timothy Scott joined the pursuit.

When Harris took the chase into a mall parking lot, Scott attempted to block him from exiting with his crusier. Harris, however, seemed to have other plans as he simply rammed the cruiser and kept going. As the chase progressed, it led to speeds upwards of 90 mph on small roads.

At this point, Scott requested permission to initiate a PIT (Precision Intervention Technique) maneuver with the hopes of ending this chase without anyone getting in harms way. He was granted permission from the shift supervisior over the radio, "Take him out, take him out." Upon hitting the rear of Harris's car, Harris lost control and sent his car off the road, ending up in a ditch...paralyzed.

Now Harris is suing Deputy Scott, and the department, for his maneuver. He claims that this was a violation of his 4th Amendment rights and a usage of excessive, deadly force. His attorney has stated that the police could have simply continued the pursuit or ended it and shown up at his home later.

This is a joke, right? I wish it were.

This man fled from law enforcement officers, then became a danger to the community with his erradic driving. Did I mention he also rammed a police cruiser in the parking lot of a mall trying to escape? "By continuing to flee in a vehicle, the suspect does not merely seek to elude capture, but risks harming the public (intentionally or unintentionally) in the process," stated Scott's attorney. Furthermore, Harris's attorney must be lost since he thinks the police should have simply let him go and checked his home later. Yes, lets let the criminals run get away because we don't want to risk injuring them as they flee...and of course they'll be easily ready for arrest later on when we look for them.

When is this portion of our society going to stop blaming our police officers for their actions in response to the criminals they match up with daily? These brave protectors have to make difficult decisions everyday, and they only get more difficult when people begin to pick apart their efforts. With this trend, there will come a time when they do not act due to fear of backlash...then they will be hounded once someone innocent is hurt as a result. When performing their job, it is impossible to be efficient when they are given a high level of doubt in their actions.

"The reasonableness of force must be assessed from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene, rather than with the 20/20 vision of hindsight," noted Solicitor General Paul Clement, the administration's top Supreme Court lawyer. I agree, and this suit will not fly.

This case will be entering the Supreme Court in Georgia on appeal.