Criminal Justice 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Criminal Justice 1 - Essay Example A delicate balancing act of this high speed pursuit is necessary because a lot is usually at stake. On one hand is the police wanting to prevent fleeing criminals from the authority and from facing their criminal charges and on the other hand is the fact that these high speed chases put many individuals at risk as mentioned earlier (Stevens, 2011). Police teach people to be law abiding and face up to their crimes but not flee from the law. This therefore necessitates them to engage fleeing criminals in high speed vehicular pursuits. Failure to engage them may lead to other fleeing criminals following suit and fleeing in high speed after committing crimes because they know the police will not pursue them. This will decrease the apprehension rate while at the same time encouraging more criminal activities that end up in the criminals fleeing at high speed from the crime scene and maybe even from the country. The other balance needed is to ensure that innocent citizens that are caught up in this vehicular pursuit are not in any way harmed. This also includes ensuring safety measures for those police officers involved directly in the high speed pursuit. Some of the measures the police have to put are preventative by educating the public about the potential risks of being caught up in such a pursuit and what they are expected to do immediately they realize that such a pursuit is ongoing. This may however not prove to be easy because most people do not realize about the high-speed chase until it is too late for them to prevent accidents and even shoot-outs from the criminals or the police. Some people also do not seem to think that this involves them or is their problem in any way and hence put themselves and others at risk (Peak, 2012). The cost of the pursuit is also an issue of debate in the balancing act. The costs involved include the traffic that will snarl up as a result of the chase and