What are the areas of civil liability in the area of police vehicle pursuits?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Police have no special privileges or immunities in the routine operation of their patrol vehicles and are held to the same standard of conduct as private citizens. When responding in emergency situations, officers are governed by statutes covering emergency vehicles, which provide them with some protections and privileges not given to private citizens. This includes the right to take risks that would amount to negligence if undertaken by citizens.

One of these areas is that of police vehicle pursuits. While the police have the right to engage in high speed pursuits, these activities result in hundreds of deaths each year, including the deaths of many innocent third parties. The police agency needs to balance the need to show criminals that fleeing from the law does not result in freedom with the need to protect anyone in range from the high-speed threat of that pursuit. In general, high speed pursuits are justified only when the necessity of apprehension outweighs the degree of danger created by the pursuit; in other words, when there the suspect is a significant threat to the public safety other than the fact that the police are chasing him or her.