Quote: Just because something is hard to do, or maybe injure a cop, doesnt mean that they cant do it. Cops sign up to risk their lives every day, they know they have to, to preserve life. Boxing the car in is definately a pluasable soultion.
Boxing in is not about injuring a cop; it's about killing a cop, and the perpetrator, and innocent bystanders. Boxing in just isn't done often anymore. It has nothing to do with how "hard" something is, but how likely someone is to be killed.
If it was just about how "hard" it was, I'm sure the cop would rather not have to go through the investigation process after having killed someone. And if it was all about how "hard" it was he definetely wouldn't be doing something as difficult and self-endangering as the PIT maneuver on an SUV at 110MPH.
Quote: Spike strips would also work, there are spikes that rip apart the tire at low speeds to stop a car, and there are spike strips that are just large needles which deflate the tires for high speeds.
Spike Strips are far from 100% safe. Even the hollow ones designed to deflate over a short distance. Drivers, particularly in SUVs, lose control and flip with greater frequency than during the PIT maneuver which generally does not go as badly as in this case. When effective, most drivers continue on despite their blown tires, usually pulling off the freeway and into city traffic (not a concern here). And there's been dozens of occassions where the officers deploying the strips have been struck and killed by the perpetrator.
This is probably the 'best' option to go with aside from the PIT maneuver, but would require extensive coordination with surrounding departments which is difficult at best and would have meant continuing the chase likely an additional 15-25 miles to where additional officers would be at and the conditions of the roadway met guidelines meeting the requirements for spike strip deployment.
Quote: Letting the cops back off and following the car with a chopper is another pluasable soultion.
Possibly. Except we had no chopper in this case and were over 75 miles away from Atlanta. Even if a chopper had been called within the first 10 minutes, the chase would still continue for over an hour before a chopper would be on scene.
