Policemen Runs Down Two Girls--Not Guilty

[Diana Hignutt]

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/06/nj_state_trooper_cleared_of_ch.html


This story has been big news in NJ for the last three years. The cop was chasing a speeder, ran a stop sign without his lights or siren on, and killed two teenage girls.

The trial finished up a day or two ago. The verdict: The police can kill whoever the f they want to.

[Project nachonaco]

....Wow.


Just wow.

[Cybernaught]

Of course. Police are excused from everything.

[SPMiller]

A jury cleared Higbee of any wrongdoing in the Sept. 27, 2006 deaths of 27-year-old Jacqueline and 19-year-old Christina Becker in Cape May County's Upper Township.Not teenagers. Not girls. This cop killed women.

Initial reaction: upset. Cops shouldn't be able to disregard traffic laws willy-nilly just to catch speeders to pad city coffers.

Later reasoning: the cops probably argued that they can ignore the law under certain circumstances, and apparently, the jury agreed. This would be an interesting case to read.

[Diana Hignutt]

Not teenagers. Not girls. This cop killed women.

.

In NJ, we still call them girls at that age. Maybe it's a regional thing. (But, I admit to being wrong about the teenager thing).

[Don]

Negligent homicide at the very least. That the cop got off is shameful. But it's just another isolated incident, right? :rolleyes:

[Fran]

The problem we have in the UK is the polis investigate the polis when things like this happen. It should be independent surely? Not that they all cover up for each other. Noooooo. :rolleyes:

[Joe270]

I watched this on court TV. I can't believe they didn't convict him. The evidence was overwhelming that he blew though the stop sign in haste to catch a teen he had wanted to catch before, killing the two girls.

This was negligent homicide, not a doubt about it.

[Zoombie]

Wow, that sucks.

My initial reaction? Not sure. On the one hand, its a horrible tragedy. On the other hand, it wasn't like the police officer was going out of his way to VICIOUSLY run over two innocent women, laughing all the while.

He was chasing a perp and hit two someones by accident.

Charging him with negligent homicide doesn't seem right, but let him off Scot free also seems wrong.

I think something more like having his license revoked and sticking him in a desk job seems more appropriate.

[Joe270]

He was chasing a perp and hit two someones by accident.

He was chasing a kid he knew at over 90 mph without any lights and sirens, and then he blew through a stop sign. A stop sign that the girls had stopped at, seeing it was clear, moved into the intersection, never once thinking the headlights they saw approaching were a cop car which was traveling at illegal speeds and wouldn't stop as it should.

Cops aren't allowed to break speed limits without lights and sirens.

This guy is guilty as hell. If I was the girls father, I'd shoot the asshole dead outside the courthouse. Justice was not done here.

[Dommo]

Something like this happened to my cousin when she was a senior in high school a while back.

A cop car came hauling out of an alleyway in the town she lived in, and T-boned her car at like 45 mph. The guy didn't stop, but literally blew through a residential alleyway, at nearly highway speed. It messed her up pretty badly(whiplash, and some broken bones/cuts), heck she's lucky she didn't get killed. The cop didn't have anything happen to him, and it nearly caused my cousin to miss her graduation. The rumors were spreading around that the cop had been drinking or something, as the guy retired a few years after the incident happened. I figure a bit of a whitewash happened and some asses were covered.

[Zoombie]

Dommo, your situation is clear negligence and asscovering and it represents one of the bigger problems with our police, or any police.

Maybe we should create a regulatory orginization that is separate from the police...


Oh wait, can't do that. It means more government, and as we know, the government is pure evil in all forms.

[dgiharris]

He was accused of running a stop sign while pursuing a speeder with his lights and siren off, as recommended by New Jersey police policy.


If this is the case, then the police officer is not in the wrong.

However, the real issue as I see it is HOW THE FUCK IS IT POLICY NOT TO HAVE LIGHTS AND SIRENS ON DURING A HIGH SPEED CHASE?

Seriously, I don't think i've ever heard of that or seen that. Every single high speed chase on TV shows cops with the sirens on.

The only instances where I'm aware of cops not turning sirens on is when they are responding to a dangerous situation (kidnapping, assualt in progress, etc) and they don't want to alert the perps. Otherwise, the sirens NEED to be on for public safety as well as the safety of the officer.

I simply can't believe that it is part of NJ Police policy to NOT have sirens and lights on during a high speed chase.

Rugcat, you ever hear of that?

But as crazy as it sounds, if it is NJPD policy, then 'technically' the officer is not in the wrong. What needs to happen is that policy needs to be changed.

Mel...

[Zoombie]

Wait, wait, wait...

The policy is to have the sirens OFF!?!?!?

That's just grade A-moronness right there!

[Diana Hignutt]

We're also gonna pay the cop for the two and a half years his was suspended and he'll be back on the job in a jiffy.

High speed chases are reckless and dangerous, and largely unnecessary.

[Alpha Echo]

We're also gonna pay the cop for the two and a half years his was suspended and he'll be back on the job in a jiffy.


Sounds like the Fed. gov't. I know 3 Air Traffic Controllers (who make a ton of money) who were fired for falsifying records (their time cards). One of the few things the gov't will actually fire someone for. Months later, they rehired the 3 ATC, gave them all a raise plus backpay for the time they were "fired."

If the policy in NJ is to not have your lights and sirens on for a high speed chase...when the hell is the policy to turn them ON? Why bother having them at all?

Those girls couldn't have possibly known that cop was coming...that's just sad, but it doesn't surprise me that he got off in the end.

[waylander]

To contrast with how it is dealt with in the UK.
The police officer received a 3 year sentence for what sounds like a similar incident.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tyne/8028666.stm

[Don]

Dommo, your situation is clear negligence and asscovering and it represents one of the bigger problems with our police, or any police.

Maybe we should create a regulatory orginization that is separate from the police...


Oh wait, can't do that. It means more government, and as we know, the government is pure evil in all forms.
Nah, it's a great idea, Zoombie. I'm sure it would be as effective as the SEC was in preventing the Madoff case, or the FDA has been in assuring our food is safe. It probably wouldn't do as good a job as the CDC did protecting us from the Swine Flu, though. :ROFL:

And I bet that unlike the internal affairs teams that police forces already have, they would never turn a blind eye to something done by one of their fellow officers.

Government is more incompetent than evil. It's mostly the politicians that are evil, and the bureaucracy that's incompetent. If you're gonna channel me, you've gotta get it right. :D

[darkprincealain]

Wait, wait, wait...

The policy is to have the sirens OFF!?!?!?

That's just grade A-moronness right there!

As probably also applies to the other thread about the three bullets and the chihuahua, it wouldn't hurt to at least look at the policy and think it through, if not make some changes. That the officer was following policy in these types of "isolated incidents" should not be a blanket defense.

[Joe270]

High speed chases are reckless and dangerous, and largely unnecessary.

This wasn't really a high speed chase. That implies that the cop was pursuing a vehicle intentionally fleeing.

That wasn't the case here. The cop was driving one way and the kid was going the other way. The kid was speeding, but saw the cop and slowed to the speed limit. He watched the cop in his rearview as he drove on. The kid stopped at the stop sign and proceeded through.

It took the cop some time to turn around on the two-lane road.

He was speeding to catch up to the kid and blew through the stop sign to gain on him. That's where he killed the two sisters who had gone to the store to get some milk for their grandmother.

Why didn't the cop turn on his lights before he turned around? That is policy in many police depts where they are making a 180 on a narrow road. It helps keep the cops from getting t-boned themselves.

Why didn't the cop turn on his lights to get the suspect to pull over? Many people pull over as soon as they see the lights. (Heck, I pulled over a couple days ago after I couldn't stop at a stop light, I wound up in the intersection, so I pulled on through. A cop was the first car at the cross traffic turn lane. I just pulled right into a bus lane and waited for the cop. He pulled up next to me, laughing, and merely held out his hand flat, waving it in a 'cool it down a bit' gesture and drove off. I couldn't believe my luck.)

No, he didn't do that, either, because he wanted to intimidate the kid, get right on his bumper, and then give him the full 'treatment' up close and personal.

[backslashbaby]

That is unbelievably wrong. Not only is it wrong on its face, it also tells other cops that they don't have to be at least reasonably cautious. That's not a good message to send when the profession carries so many hard decisions that have to be made quickly.

We need to understand how hard it is to make those decisions, but we definitely need to balance that with an expectation of rudimentary good sense - backed up with jail time for cases like this, imho.

[dgiharris]

High speed chases are reckless and dangerous, and largely unnecessary.

Completely disagree.

If police do not engage in high speed chases, then how do you catch criminals that flee? You will create a system where any lawbreaker can get away and the only people who pull over are law abiding citizens.

Yes, I will admit, high speed chases often hurt innocent bystanders, but the alternative (creating a system in which criminals can easily evade law enforcement) is worse.

A signficant percentage of crimes, criminals, etc are caught on routine traffic stops.

To contrast with how it is dealt with in the UK.
The police officer received a 3 year sentence for what sounds like a similar incident.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tyne/8028666.stm

Problem with the US is that this is an area where it goes case by case, state by state. There are some states where this officer would have gotten the book thrown at him and thrown in jail, and there are others where he can hide behind the Big Blue Wall and justify his actions using the normal mental contortion that unfortunately, our public tolerates from the police.

This wasn't really a high speed chase. That implies that the cop was pursuing a vehicle intentionally fleeing.

That wasn't the case here. The cop was driving one way and the kid was going the other way. The kid was speeding, but saw the cop and slowed to the speed limit. He watched the cop in his rearview as he drove on. The kid stopped at the stop sign and proceeded through.

It took the cop some time to turn around on the two-lane road.

He was speeding to catch up to the kid and blew through the stop sign to gain on him. That's where he killed the two sisters who had gone to the store to get some milk for their grandmother.....

You know, if this was the case, then holy f**king shit. What the hell is wrong with our justice system. Similarly, now i'm doubting the newspaper article that cited that it is policy 'not' to turn on your sirens. That makes no sense, ESPECIALLY when blowing throw a stop sign. Everyone, Firefighters, paramedics, and police turn on sirens when passing through stop signs/traffic lights.

That is unbelievably wrong. Not only is it wrong on its face, it also tells other cops that they don't have to be at least reasonably cautious. That's not a good message to send when the profession carries so many hard decisions that have to be made quickly.

We need to understand how hard it is to make those decisions, but we definitely need to balance that with an expectation of rudimentary good sense - backed up with jail time for cases like this, imho.

This is where the American Public fails miserably. When police are involved in anything, we turn off our common sense filters and except any ridiculous excuse.

If the facts of this case are what Joe has said, then there is no way in hell this is justice. This is ridiculous, beyond ridiculous. It is a horrendous miscarriage of justice.

Mel...

[Diana Hignutt]

Oh, just a note: my local paper today listed the girls ages at the time of their accidental murder as 17 & 19. Teenagers.