Thoughts on this local criminal court case

[OceanCityGirl]

We have a man who was a well loved state trooper. He was in pursuit of a suspect (he says but not proven yet). He blew a stop sign, hit a mini van with two sisters in it on their way to buy milk. They were both killed instantly. The police have already made a financial settlement with the family but now the criminal trial started this week. It is being televised. It is expected to be ugly and long. There are many local people fiercely divided here. But the girls were well loved and I would say people are siding with their family.
The poor grandfather testified today. He rode past the accident on his way home from dinner and didn't think anything of it. Then he realized the girls weren't home, became concerned and went to the site. Awful.
Also, the officer didn't have his lights or siren on. He was trying to close the gap between himself and a speeder before alerting him to his presence. Standard department practice.
You can catch it on court tv. The officer is named Higbee.

[ph4ever]

Since the department obviously didn't have any high speed pursuit policies in effect, I don't think the officer should be on trial. However I do feel the police department should establish high speed pursuit rules and policies - when to suspend them, always use lights etc and if any officer in the future violates those rules he should loose his job and be brought up on criminal chages.

Similar accidents happened in Dallas when I lived there and the PD had to revise it's high speed pursuit policies.

[OceanCityGirl]

http://www.capemaycountyherald.com/arti ... egin+today

A link.

[ph4ever]

The followinig statement from the story makes me think that perhaps he should be found guilty (yes my mind can change that quickly ).

Meyer noted that Higbee first claimed to have stopped at the intersection, but later evidence he said provided by his car’s power train control module, or event data recorder, told a different story.

The device, he said, recorded information 25 seconds before the crash, including Higbee’s speed.

“He was going between 70 and 80 mph while he was trying to close the gap between his car and the speeder,” said Meyer. “It shows his foot had contact with the brake pedal, but no where near the intensity needed to brake completely.”

Meyer said that at about 200 feet away from the approaching stop sign, Higbee took his foot away from the brake pedal and accelerated again. At the last second, Meyer said that Higbee hit the brakes.

Frankly he should have just let the speeder go.

[Skibo]

I saw a bit of this on the news and shook my head in disgust. I'm not into punishing people for doing their job, especially in this case where he was following a standard policy.

[dean_siu]

If he was attempting to pull over a speeder, I'm not sure why he didn't have his lights on while attempting to catch up. A normal speeder is not a major criminal and will usually not require a pursuit. There are cases to "surprise" a suspect when lights and siren are definitely not available....but in a standard speeding stop that requires the officer to exceed posted limits and go through stop signs, there should be a warning to other motorists.

[Lightning Bolt]

I heard about this one a while back.... so very unfortunate and sad.

I don't think the officer should be charged with involuntary manslaughter, but
at the least, I think he should be relieved of his job.
I just think, IMO, he needs to move on to a new phase of life from here on out.

[OceanCityGirl]

You can see how it elicits mixed opinions. This could easily go either way. I haven't heard them producing proof of the car he was pursuing yet and when this first happened there was talk that no other car existed. I have heard however that his defense is going to produce evidence to clear him.

[Skibo]

There should be a radio record of him starting the pursuit. I believe they are required to report before starting a chase. If it turns out that he did not report and there is no record of this 'speeder' then my opinion will change. I just find it hard to believe that a police officer would fly through a stop sign like that because Krispy Kreme just put out hot donuts.

[OceanCityGirl]

There should be a radio record of him starting the pursuit. I believe they are required to report before starting a chase. If it turns out that he did not report and there is no record of this 'speeder' then my opinion will change. I just find it hard to believe that a police officer would fly through a stop sign like that because Krispy Kreme just put out hot donuts.

I would guess that if they didn't have a radio record they wouldn't be fighting like this. It is likely he could have entered a plea before it went to trial. He's not a rookie either.

[ph4ever]

What bothers me is the lie he told when he originally said he stopped. It makes me feel he's covering something up.

[The Lost Manatee]

There are a lot of unknowns here and based on what has been presented my first thought is that the department should be under fire for not having a policy in place to cover high speed pursuits. What is troubling is that he didn't have lights and sirens going, which is required by many departments to start a pursuit. Without a policy in place, the department leaves it up to the individual officer and the results are sometimes tragic.

If it can be established that he was in pursuit of someone, then I think it is just a terrible tragedy. I don't think that you can and should punish an officer for doing his job.

Now if it is established that there wasn't a speeding car then throw the book at him because he is violating the trust of the public, as well as being the cause of death and destruction.

[V-town Fin Truck]

I feel sorry for everyone involved here, but the bottom line is that he is responsible for operating in a safe manner, regardless of policy. Even with lights and sirens, nothing can be assumed- you have to be sure that your path is clear- stop signs are not suggestions, even during emergencies. I regularly operate my own vehicle with lights and sirens, as well as fire trucks, and the occasional ambulance. I don't trust any intersection- I always stop- it's a matter of personal responsibility for my own safety, my crew, and anyone else on the road.

[LIBuffettFan]

As much as I sympathize with the officer, this is something that will haunt him for a long time to come, unfortunately the law is not on his side this time. Regardless of department policy, he blew a stop sign without any emergency warning devices on. Even if he was trying to close the gap, had he stopped for a second at that sign then proceeded through he probably would have still caught up with the speeder and if he didnt, he should have called it in. I have been involved with the fire service for a long time and work closely with many cops, and I think they would agree things do not look good for him. Quite often dept. policies do not transfer well to real life. That policy would be fine if he were closing the gap on an uninterupted highway but in this case be passed by a traffic control device (stop sign). The dept. will shrug this one off and it will land squarely on the officer. Our Fire Dept. policy says that if we are responding with lights and sirens, we are supposed to slow to almost a stop at intersections to ensure they are clear before proceeding through, not just blow through with no caution. If someone does, its there butt on the line not the departments. We have already had two members who were involved in intersection accidents who had to get their own lawyers due to major accidents. Just my two cents.

[Spider Johnson]

This tragic accident is going to haunt families and friends of all those involved, and especially the trooper, for the rest of their lives.
There can be no denying that.

Apparently the trooper was following the guidelines as prescribed by his state's Attorney General. At least according to one article.
Such laws and policy do vary from state to state.

There are many numerous sites with articles about this. I only posted these two. There was an actual speeder. The speeder was a 17 year old that was trying to get home before curfew. However there is no way the trooper could have known that, when he detected the speeder and decided to commit to make a traffic stop. A traffic stop is one of the most potentially dangerous situations for a law enforcement officer to be in. The 17 year old driver is expected to testify.

No matter what the outcome of this trial, hindsight is 20/20, and two young women lost their lives, family and friends lost loved ones, and a good state trooper's career was destroyed.
No doubt this situation, and the results of this trial, may give many law enforment officers second thoughts in deciding how to speedily proceed to any situation in the future when seconds count. Such as a possibly armed intruder in your home....

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20090 ... d=41144277


There are many comments following this article:
http://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/bre ... mode=story

[Wino you know]

It was an ACCIDENT. Plain and simple.

That being said, yes, he SHOULD'VE had his lights & siren going, and the fact that he didn't, should be held accountable.
However, since it was an ACCIDENT, I don't feel criminal or civil charges are warranted.
I didn't read the links you posted, but I'm sure the department does have proceedures for high speed pursuit, and, if so, I'd be willing to bet it calls for the use of lights & siren.

Secondly, depending on the circumstance, I've probably ceased HUNDREDS of high speed chases, either by my own decision or as instructed by my superiors.
Bottom line is, as a result of that, I went home at the end of my shift, and am still in possession of all of my assets. (And I still have a job).
If the suspect "pulls one over on me," that's simply all it is. He/she is just one up on me, and THAT'S ALL.
"Little Garry" didn't get littler because I didn't catch a speeder, and, more often than not, if I don't catch the suspect in one instance, chances are somebody else will later.
If the person is not a fleeing felon, there's no sense risking my safety, or that of others.

My heart goes out to this officer. If he survives this, I do hope he'll have the sense to use better judgement in the future.

[Indiana Jolly Mon]

It was an ACCIDENT. Plain and simple.

That being said, yes, he SHOULD'VE had his lights & siren going, and the fact that he didn't, should be held accountable.
However, since it was an ACCIDENT, I don't feel criminal or civil charges are warranted.
I didn't read the links you posted, but I'm sure the department does have proceedures for high speed pursuit, and, if so, I'd be willing to bet it calls for the use of lights & siren.

Secondly, depending on the circumstance, I've probably ceased HUNDREDS of high speed chases, either by my own decision or as instructed by my superiors.
Bottom line is, as a result of that, I went home at the end of my shift, and am still in possession of all of my assets. (And I still have a job).
If the suspect "pulls one over on me," that's simply all it is. He/she is just one up on me, and THAT'S ALL.
"Little Garry" didn't get littler because I didn't catch a speeder, and, more often than not, if I don't catch the suspect in one instance, chances are somebody else will later.
If the person is not a fleeing felon, there's no sense risking my safety, or that of others.

My heart goes out to this officer. If he survives this, I do hope he'll have the sense to use better judgement in the future.

Thank you for the insight and perspective. It is terrible that two people are dead here because of an accident. The officer made a serious mistake and will have to pay for it, and he should be charged. That said, he is human and made a mistake, my thoughts go out to all involved here.

[OceanCityGirl]

A lot of interesting thoughts here. Spyder, good articles. In the one I see what you are referring to. His attorney stated the following in court

Subin said Higbee was doing his duty when he pursued the speeder - and was following another rule of the attorney general's, which says a trooper must "close the gap" with a speeder before turning on lights and sirens.

That rule is meant to ensure that the trooper can see the license plate and pull over the driver in a safe spot, Subin said. Higbee had not closed the distance and had not yet turned on his lights and sirens when he crashed into the Becker sisters.

It is a dark rural road. There are stop signs that are not always easy to see so it is possible he didn't see the sign. But if you are a police officer who travels that area frequently you should be familiar with it. This might be part of the drawback to using state troopers in rural towns instead of having a local police force. The case is still getting a good deal of attention. It is just so very sad. I don't remember whether he is providing his own defense or whether the state is. I also don't know if he is on payroll still, or unpaid leave or suspended.

[Skibo]

Officer found not guilty today. I just heard the headline.