Maryland Police Officer Faces Two Counts of Vehicular Manslaughter
Last May, Maryland police officer Scott Campbell was attempting to pursue a motorcyclist when the pursuit turned into a high speed chase. The high speed chase turned into a seven car pile up that left two people dead. Officer Campbell now faces two counts of vehicular manslaughter and up to 20 years in prison.
This event will undoubtedly stir the debate of whether or not high speed pursuits are justified. Under Maryland law, high speed pursuits are not justified unless the person being pursued uses or threatens physical force, or is fleeing the scene of an accident where serious injury or death has occurred. This was apparently not the case for the high speed pursuit in question. The motorcyclist was caught but has not been charged with anything.
Comments
Jack Maxwell
Good. I am tired of overpaid,tax trough eating, arrogant police officers getting away with murder.
southern
Good.
I am a big backer of our police, but High Speed chases should be restricted to stopping terrorists and as a useful effect in the Smokey and the Bandit pix.
When these guys flagrantly ignore their own policies (which are overly permissive IMO) they need to be held as responsible as anyone else.
My sister was killed by a high speed chase in Miami.
Seems the police were chasing a Drug dealer at speeds far over 100MPH on Biscayne Blvd and she had the audacity to drive home from work.
She was nice girl and i loved her very much.
And now two more innocent people are dead and others injured.
Hang the bastard.
chartguy
I'm a volunteer fireman. As the police are, we are actually held to a higher standard than the public is. We undergo additional training, so we're supposed to be more controlled. I'm not sure that's at all true, but the courts do hold us to a higher standard than the general public.
The accuracy of news reports can vary widely. Assuming this is accurate, the officer will likely be convicted. What saddens me is that the motorcyclist has not been charged with anything. In my mind, by attempting to elude the officer, he is just as responsible for the deaths. He started the dominoes falling, and had many opportunities to stop the process along the way. They both escalated what should have been a routine traffic stop.
It's unfortunate, but eluding seems to be more common with motorcycles. I'll probably get hammered for making a sweeping generalization. I'm making it because our district is in the foothills west of Denver, and you can almost count on getting toned to a motorcycle accident on a summer weekend. I would estimate that about 20% of those are kids who steal cafe racers in Denver, and try to run the gauntlet of cops up here. It seems to be a way of earning your stripes in some gang down in Denver. Steal a bike, and survive a run through the foothills to earn your street cred, I guess.
The problem is that it isn't a closed course. When they hit someone else, it's truly tragic.
CarFan
@chartguy
One of the reports I heard living in MD is that the cruiser had unauthorized lights/sirens the cop used on his own business so he could pull people over and not have his cruiser-cam activate. It was these lights and siren that he had on when he decided to chase the bike. He was not on the heels of the bike but some distance behind when the bike sped past him and he decided to pursue the vehicle without authorization from the watch commander or dispatch.
As the article states, there was no justification for the cop to pursue the bike other than his speed. He decided to take the law into his own hands (which may have been routine for him given the unauthorized lights) and him being a cowboy caused two people to pay with their lives. There was a third passenger in the vehicle with the two deceased who survived. I remember his account with local reporters about their vehicle going airborn from the impact with the cruiser and then being sent from their side of the road into on-coming traffic.
GoodGuy
No one has room to talk if you have never been in that Officers shoes. Police Officers are blamed even in situations beyond their control. If that motorcycle sped by him and ended up killing two people on his own then everyone would have been kicking and screaming about why that officer didn't do anything. When you sit down at your television and watch it on COPS, you think it is cool but when something as tragic as this happens you are the first to condemn the Officer.
Comments like those made by "Jack Maxwell" and "southern" (above) just go to show what ignorant individuals Officers have to face on a daily basis. Have respect for the same man that would risk his life to save yours on a daily basis. Once again put yourself into his shoes and face the fact that he has to live everyday knowing that two lives were lost that day.
VII
Endangering more innocents just because you wanna play Judge Dread is just stupid and a practice in indulging in your pride. Would you continue to run after a Veyron on the highway in a stock '89 Honda Accord after seeing it disappear over the horizon in the 6 seconds it takes to get you to accelerate a single mile per hour? Unless you're a complete IDIOT, I don't think so...
It's not worth it people...It's just not worth it.
One 400lb bike traveling at high speed < One (or several) 4000lb cars traveling at high speed, recklessly, after something that is far far far faster and manuverable (bike)
You can see where the problem(s) arises...
People who are prone to speeding are going to ride/drive fast regardless of what the laws/speed limits are, that's just a fact of life...That is why there are preset procedures put in place for dealing with speeders, because once you start bringing other huge speeding pieces of machinery into the equation you're risking more and more lives in the process to catch what is most times just someone cruising.
Most cops think of chasing bikers (at least in and around Miami, FL) as a big game.
Ummm...Yeah. You are supposed to be the shepherds, of course you're supposed to be held to a higher standard! If we didn't hold you to higher standards than the rest of the rabble then we'd let just anybody be cops...heyyyyy, why not do away with the cops all together and start a militia up? I sure citizens would be much more comfortable if they actually personally knew the people keeping the peace.
I'll gladly be the first volunteer for the North Miami chapter!
(Completely no offense chartguy, I have NOTHING against Firemen, I personally know several Firemen and more than a few Police Officers, including a detective for the City of Miami...I'm mostly just ranting)
Ducati Minor
Jack is an idiot.
How about blaming the people who start the chase? Is it not they who start the pursuit? What is the law supposed to do? Let a felon wanted for molestation or armed robbery take off so he can be caught some other day. Even if a pursuit is “just
hwyhobo
To me, if a fleeing suspect’s chase leads to an fatal collision, he or she should be held for murder.
I am with DucatiMinor on this. To a degree, this is already a part of the law. If someone dies during the commission of a felony, the felon is charged with murder. However, the pursuing officer must also exercise good judgment (the risk to the public may have been too great here).
Brad
The police just need to let the helicopters and motorcyclists chase the bad guys. Also, it would help if the police had better vehicles. Who would want to try and outrun a M5?
I don't think DucatiMinor would last very long in Germany, driving or otherwise. Driving over a hundred mph is common and not a danger over here. You can drive as fast as you want without seeing the Polzei for days and the crime is so minimal over here, even the accidents. Solution: take about half of the police force off the streets in the U.S. and put the remainder in M5s and motorcycles. Maybe BMW motorcycles?
Jack Maxwell
I think the cop in question in this article is the idiot here.
Just have your civil liberties or safety taken away once by overzealous/incompetent/self righteous/lazy/dishonest donut eaters and we'll see how much of a "law and order" type you really are,"GoodGuy".
Of course calling names when someone has an opinion that is different than yours is a sure sign that you are indeed one of the "GoodGuy's",right?
All this Rambo crap is enough to cause a contributing Republican to become a libertarian.
GoodGuy
I agree with "Ducati Minor" and "hwyhobo" as well. The fleeing suspect should be charged for whatever events occurred due to his or her actions.
Secondly, "Jack" let me give you a little English 101 lesson since you have taken offense to the fact of me referring to you as an ignorant person. "Ignorance is the condition of being uninformed or uneducated, lacking knowledge or information."
I stated my opinion based on your remarks that quote "I am tired of overpaid,tax trough eating, arrogant police officers getting away with murder." I am quite curious where you got such "factual" and "educated" information from?
How often do you think police officers risk their own safety to protect civilians? Also are you aware of the civil liberties that Police Officers automatically lose when they put on that uniform? When you can answer me these questions in a competent manner then you can prove me wrong.
Jack Maxwell
I stand corrected,Officer. Thanks for letting me off with a warning.
I'll get my contribution to the Drew Peterson defense fund off in the a.m. Though his 75k pension is more than most tax payers working in the free marketplace receive for working much longer, I'm sure that he'll need every cent that he can get his hands on to prove his arrogance.....er.....innocence.
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