High court: police can use violent means to end high-speed chases

The Supreme Court's 8-to-1 decision involved a Georgia teenager, who sued a police deputy who rammed the teen's speeding car, causing serious physical damage.

from the May 1, 2007 edition

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Scalia said the appeals court offered a more benign description of Harris's conduct during the chase. He said the appeals court made it sound like Harris was attempting to pass a driving test rather than fleeing from police.

"The videotape tells quite a different story," Scalia writes. "Far from being the cautious and controlled driver the lower court depicts, what we see on the video more closely resembles a Hollywood-style car chase of the most frightening sort."

Justice John Paul Stevens wrote a lone dissent. He agreed with the appeals court's characterization of Harris's driving during the chase and said it was not clear that the late-night pursuit in rural Georgia threatened the life of any innocent bystander.

The deputy sheriffs could have used less dangerous tactics, including simply calling off the chase once they'd secured the driver's license number for later arrest, he said.

Stevens said that rather than creating a nationwide rule on the issue, such questions should be left to a jury to decide whether the officer acted reasonably or not.

The decision in Scott v. Harris is important because it offers law-enforcement officials across the country guidance in how to properly respond in high-speed chases. In some cases it could encourage more aggressive efforts to take violent action to end pursuits that are deemed particularly dangerous to bystanders.

Many police departments have enacted pursuit policies that discourage the use of violent means to end a chase.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more than 350 individuals are killed each year in the US in crashes related to high-speed pursuits by police. The statistics show that nearly 230 of the deaths are fleeing suspects, while five police officers are killed each year in such chases. The remaining fatalities are bystanders.

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For further information:
•	Video of the car chase US Supreme Court website
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