The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17. 1976, PAGE 5 O.LICOE CH~ASS.... 'First class' citizen Reent satemeni1 by office r 's wife A Whitby mother of three was killed February 24 when ber car was in a collision with an auto being pursued by the police. More recentlv. seven youngsters lost their lives in a j Dear Sir; With the result of a f ihisee chase by police ending in the déatlî of- seveîî teenagers last weekend ini Acton. Ontario, sorne spotliglît ls beeîî tossed oit the J issue of the iîecessily of Ihî*gh-speed chiases by the Spolice, for whatever reason. 1Two weeks ago, .a mother of thîree childreui j &vs killed iin Wlitby after an alleuedly impnlaired driver being chased by police ini the niddle of town srnashed into hier. When it cornes dowîî to the wire, the quiestioli nîany peoffle are, asking 110w is: "Is the recovery of a stolenl car wortlî the lives of seven young people?" It is very possible thiat tlîe car could have been reco- vered later. Or, in the case ini Wlitby, is thîe life of a' mlotlîer wortlî the immnediate apprelieiî- si(>I of an allegedly iiîpaired driver? Most people would assurne that our police officers would have a higli enough, level of conion sense to'kiîow where and when to. have a Ilî'igh speed pursuit. I, for oie, don't really thiîuk fttdwtw Whitby is lail ideal spot similar ac cident in Acton. The Free Press has received several letters on the subject of police chases. A num ber of theni appear on this page. Free PressPhoto by Mike Burgess to have a chase such as tlîis, runiilg tlîrougli thie streets, etc. It niakes mie very sad to tlîiîîk tlat eight lives had to be takçen ini order for our society to beconie aware of the situation. Let us lhope that thiese tragic exarnlles give soie cause for re- consideratioli ini tlhe future by the police on their choice. of wlîere anîd wheîî tley decide t'O have higlî-speed cliases and what sort of situationi warrants themî. Siîîcerely, Frêd Homie, Wliitby Dear Sir-, Conîparing the letters from the police officer's wife and that of Mr. Bagneil, I found this as difficult- as comparing night to day. Mr. Bagnell stated what Iso many citizens of this town have been asking.- Was the high speed chase in a built up area justified? 1 found bis criticism unbiased, and perfectly logical. His suggestion that a com- prehensive explanation by the Durham Police Commission is necessary to clarify this situation. Kenneth Bagne il: Editorial was 'shocking in its ignorance'. Dear Sir; The letter 011 this page February 3, writteni by me, and criticizing police chases, has drawvi sorne intieresting reaction, i- cluding your editorial;, since thie issue is1 so im11portant 1 tliink thîe dis- cussioîî of it should continue. My letter drew im- media te aiîd sonie- what angry responises fromî sorne readers, parti- cularly police officers, who seem to feel person- ally put upon by cri ticisin of their departnient's policy.' As one put it: "Maybe you tlîiiîk it would be be tter if we. had no police". Wyt~his inclination to public safety, as it relates to police chases, as hostility to police officers, personally and collective- ly? Perha'ps because, ini a timne of social change, police officers are criti- cized? So are plîysicians, teachers, clergymen, and jolialists. Welcoîîîe to the seve:nties. Utîfortunately, coi- ment oni public poli'cies can 't be restrailied be- cause it inighit wound the pride of the police. Most peopile probably recog3- nize tlhe difficulties police officers have. But if their practices endanger lives - ,as police chases clearly do - are xve to reinain silent simply to avoid offending their feelingas? Then there is thîe criticism that, if I realized how irrespon- sible sone speeding drivers are, 1 would support the police ini their attempt to apilprelieid themi through chases. To tlîis, oune can only sa y aCI11 irresl)orisible driver or a drunken driver is probablv mnore dangierous tlîaniia stable anîd sober on1e. A chase therefore lîeighitens the likelihooci of trag1(edy. Finally, there is the positionî of yoir editoriail and its revealitng title. "Cha-ýse 4'ei". You claini that nîuLch1 police work miust be based on 44"the Law of averages". That beiîîg so, yoLl conclude tlîat the policé should chase speeding vehiicles ini case one of oîîr clîildren is l(cked ini the trLlnk. This is policing based on tlîe law of averages? If so, did the last 1 0 police chases tu rn u p a significaîît nuiîber of Durhiam citizens locked iii trunks? Witlî aIl respect youi'r argumenCIt is shocking inî its igniorance. lndeed, iii the lighit of a citizen's death as a result o>f a piolice cliase, youir argLl- int is irrespouisible. Yotîrs trtly, Kennîeth 1Bagiiell EDITOR'S NOTE: the exaniple gxiveni in our editorial of March 3 "Tlhe officer MUST conisider the possibility tlîat the speedig car nîay coitain onîe of our' dau-glîters locked iii tlhe trmiik on her way to a grisly enîd..." obviously cid îlot inteiîd to iîîdicate that EVEIKY speeding car is speeding for tlîat re.ason. (hIîcidiEîtly tlhe nuinber of sex crimles has iîîcreased dramîatically ini our region). A.s o îîe editor »'to another, surely you nmust aplireciate sîace limîita- tionîs. We would have liked to have preseuîted thte alternîatives to cliases.. ....sucli as NO CHASES, and the resultigsituationi whîere crimîiîials have nîerely to iîake it-to thîeir ..&get-away-car" a îd they're lionie free or possibly the.police could îîegotiate an aaniieeit with viola tors wvhere iinior (ffellders vold fly greeii flagt(s on tteir cars so tlhe police would knowv îot to chi:--e thieni and tlîe nurderers, ral)ists, e tc. wvould A fly red flagi(s to let the police kiîow they 're fair gaine to be chîased. Coic uow, if our feeliîîgs are "irrespoîl- sible' wluat woulcl you call the alternîatives ... responsible? A receit Toronîto Star story 011 tlîe subject of cliases gave an exaîîple thiat lîappened last year iii Toronto 'police cruisers abandcl.r.ned a chaàse wheîî sp)ee(ls reaclîed 80 mi.p.hi. aloîg* St. Clair Ave. eighit inultes later tlîegetaway car, still raciîlg at hiigli sl)eed, luit anîd killed a i)edestriail'. "O11 that occasion soiie lpeople said we failed ini our duty", said Deputy Chiief Jack Ackroyd. Gleti King, executive director of the Interna- tional Associatioin of Police Chiefs says no0 policernaii seeing a speed- ig car could know if he wvas just followiîîg a crazy driver or an escap- iiig crimîiuîal. "If every police force had a firin rule about giviîîg up a cliase at say '60 mî.p.h. it would iîîîake a tra-,vesty of Law enforceîîîeut", lie sa id. The statement by the police officer's wife that police officers are second class citizens is totally illogical. Madain, how do you justify this state- ment? You must admit the income derived from being a "second class" citizen. is more than adequate. You then ask if police officers like putting their lives on-the uine, at'80 or 90 miles per hour.' Madam, who asked them to- become police officers? 1 feel sure that each and every one of them are made fully aware of the risks which muSt be-taken in their chosen prorfession. You state you rnay flot serve on, a jury because you are the wife of a "second class citizen". Then why proceed to set yourself up as judge and jury by stating and 1 quote ."The blanie lies squarely 911 the shoulders of a nineteen year old". You further state that the deatlî of an ininvol- ved citizen was "tragic". May 1 add that, as a resuit of' a high speed chase, seven young people in this province lost their lives a week ago., Do you wish us- to believe that this too was just "tragic"'? 1, too. arn an old fashioned wife' who uses her married naine and, because you place me in the "First Class" category, (1 always thought 1 was a Canadian citizen), I can signm naiane. Anîî Andersonî, Wliitby. R e sident praises regional police Dear Editor; Iii the last couple of weeks 1 I.have read- suine coilillaints ini regards to the Durbiani Regional Police, but 1 iust say that- this is soîîîetîiuîg that, I fouuîd qLite differ- cuit oui Wed. îîiglît last as I weuît to a meeting at K of C Hall Brock St. N., I parked nîy, car ini a parking lot on ELînu St., so wlîen I camie out to 0o home my cai . %vas missina, 50 I1 ent- back iuîto thîe *Flailto 1)11011e thîe Po<lice. One of thie otlier- men saw va ploice car pull up -nt thîe Royal Hotel, so lie wvenit tp and spoke to thie Conîstable zîîd lie camne dowvî, took iîe ini his car and said " Le t's look arotund". Iii about tweiîty mnîutes wve iocated it. So at this tie I1 votrid ike very niticlî to tliank Constable Van No. 185 for his co-olieratioli thîe nly thiîîg is* we did îlot clîec'àk' it over as- next ni ,rniiig riglît door *as.,dainaged. îJdaimes',A. Slnîythi, -Vm20(YMason Dr., Whitby After tragie examples Need should be reconsidered