A car chase is the vehicular overland chase of one party by another, involving at least one automobile or other wheeled motor vehicle in pursuit -- commonly hot pursuit of suspects by law enforcers. The rise of the automotive industry in the 20th century increased car ownership, leading to a growing number of criminals attempting to evade police in their own vehicle or a stolen car. Car chases may, instead (or also), involve other parties (including criminals) in pursuit of a criminal suspect or intended victim, or simply in an attempt to make contact with a moving person for non-conflict reasons.
Car chases are often captured on news broadcast due to the video footage recorded by police cars and police and media helicopters participating in the chase. Car chases are also a popular subject with media and audiences due to their intensity, drama and the innate danger of high-speed driving -- and thus are common content in fiction, particularly action dramas.
In realityEdit
Car chases occur when a suspect attempts to use a vehicle to escape from law enforcement attempting to detain or arrest him or her. The assumed offence committed may range from misdemeanours such as traffic infractions to felonies as serious as murder. When suspects realize they have been spotted by law enforcement, they attempt to lose their pursuer by driving away, usually at high speed. Generally, suspects whom police spot committing crimes for which long prison terms are likely upon conviction are much more likely to start car chases. In 2002, 700 pursuits were reported in the city of Los Angeles.[1]
Los Angeles television station KCAL reported a quadrupling of ratings when police pursuits aired.[2] Police officials have asked news media to reduce coverage of chases, claiming that they encourage suspects to flee and inciting gawkers to possibly get in the way of the pursuit, while the media responds that coverage of chases provides a public service and provide a deterrent to police brutality.[3]
Police use a number of techniques to end chases, from pleading with the driver, waiting for the driver's vehicle to run out of fuel, or hoping the driver's vehicle becomes somehow disabled to more forceful methods such as boxing in the vehicle with police cruisers, ramming the vehicle, the PIT maneuver, shooting out the tires, or the use of spike strips, though all efforts, many of which pose risk to all involved as well as bystanders, will be aimed at avoiding danger to civilians. When available, a helicopter may be employed, which in some cases, may follow the vehicle from above while ground units may or may not be involved. The StarChase system as of summer 2009 was in use by the Arizona Department of Public Safety.[4]
The February 2005 Macquarie Fields riots occurred in Sydney, Australia after a local driver crashed a stolen vehicle into a tree, killing his two passengers following a high-speed police pursuit. The death of university student Clea Rose following a police chase in Canberra sparked major recriminations over police pursuit policies. Ole Christian Bach was found shot and killed in Sweden in a presumed suicide after he had been followed in a car chase by Swedish undercover police.
Reality television has combined with the car chase genre in a number of television shows and specials featuring real footage, mostly taken from police cruisers and law enforcement or media helicopters of suspects fleeing police.[5]
One notable, recorded police chase occurred when an M60 Patton tank was stolen by Shawn Nelson from an Army National Guard armory, on May 17, 1995. Nelson went on a rampage through San Diego, California, with the massive tank crushing multiple civilian vehicles before becoming stuck on a road divider. Police were able to get aboard the tank and open the hatch, killing the suspect when he would not surrender.
On June 4, 2004, welder Marvin Heemeyer went on a rampage in a heavily modified bulldozer in Granby, Colorado, wrecking 13 buildings including the town hall, the public library, a bank, a concrete batch plant, and a house owned by the town's former mayor, resulting in over $7 million in damage. The police were initially powerless, as none of their weapons could penetrate the suspect's vehicle. However, the bulldozer's engine failed and the machine became stuck, so Heemeyer committed suicide by gunshot.
On July 27, 2007, at exactly 12:46:20 p.m. MST in Phoenix, Arizona, two helicopters crashed in mid air. Both were AS-350 AStar helicopters from KNXV-TV (the area's ABC affiliate) and KTVK (an independent, but was the ABC affiliate until losing it to KNXV in 1995) news stations collided in mid-air above Steele Indian School Park in Phoenix, Arizona while covering a police pursuit.[6][7] Four people were killed: KTVK pilot Scott Bowerbank and photographer Jim Cox;
