Shoot Now! Ask Questions Later.

Classic letter in the News-Press today! This guy has got too much time on his hands and is certainly an expert as he's watched 50-100 chases on TV! In case you missed it:

The recent vehicle chase through San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties involving speeds of 100 mph, two hours of chase and confusion, three kidnapped people, numerous police cars, gunshots and one person dead could have been averted through a technique I have thought out.

Basically, it involves having police cruisers equipped with a shotgun mounted on the hood directly in front of the driver, who, at the optimum time and distance, remotely fires the gun, blowing out a rear tire; it can be repeated for the other tire. If done early on in the chase, the pursued vehicle's speed can be substantially reduced, minimizing much mayhem.

By lowering the speed to one half or less, kinetic energies involved in collisions are less than one-quarter of original, making it vital to try such a technique.

The initial reaction to this is that it's too dangerous. Not so. I've watched 50-100 chases on TV through the dash-mounted camera, shouting at my telly, "Shoot now!'' Of course in these cases, the sole officer can't do much but stay with the pursued vehicle waiting for a four-car pileup at the next red light or a roll-over on a two-lane country road.

With my system, one officer can take positive action, shooting out tires, slowing down, and in some cases stopping the vehicle. It needn't be dangerous to the heedless driver or other cars if the officer picks the right time and place.

I'd love to discuss this idea with someone in law enforcement as to the feasibility, practicality, etc. I've outlined what I think is a low cost development program, called "Operation Slowdown," which would, in my opinion, perfect equipment and techniques, eliminating many senseless chases.