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One wonders when law enforcement will work with
California legislators to prevent future victims.
Pursuing justice for 'lost crime victims'
Crime victims leave behind families who fear that their loved ones will be forgotten. For decades and even today, innocent people killed in police pursuits are considered "collateral damage." Families of pursuit victims don't even have a chance to fear that their loved ones will be forgotten because they quickly learn that their children, siblings, parents, grandparents are the "lost crime victims."
released: 05/26/2004 Is your child's life worth a broken tail light?
In the last few weeks, there has been a media storm regarding my introduction of Senate Bill 1866, Kristie's Law, regulating high-speed police pursuits in California. At a recent California state Senate hearing on the bill, most of the major law enforcement agencies in the state lined up in opposition to the bill, while parents of victims and experts in pursuit research were in support.
released: 05/02/2004 Kristie's law essentially bans police pursuits
Re: The Star's April 14 editorial, "Police pursuit law is overdue": To pursue or not to pursue? That is the question. Police officers are expected to make critical decisions on a regular basis. One decision that occurs all too frequently is whether or not to initiate a vehicle pursuit.
released: 05/02/2004 Statewide police pursuit policy needed for safety, senator says
One minute, Kristie Priano was a 15-year-old Chico honor student laughing with her brother in the back of the family minivan on the way to her high school basketball game. The next, she was one of dozens of people killed in California and hundreds who die each year across the nation in high-speed police pursuits.
released: 04/20/2004 Editorial: Police pursuit law is overdue
Last year, The Star Editorial Board asked: "What will it take to change police pursuits?" We were dismayed by the arrogance and disregard the California Highway Patrol exhibited toward the Oxnard family that lost its precious 18-year-old daughter in a police pursuit March 23, 2002.
released: 04/14/2004
... and in Northern California, there was this deadly story
Four Killed in
School Zone—All are innocent
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This Stockton pursuit occurred in the city's poorest area as the school bell rang, signaling to students the end of another school day. One wonders if our state law would have been changed if this deadly pursuit had occurred in Pacific Palisades or a 90210 zip code?
The Chico pursuit that killed Kristina "Kristie" Priano occurred in the Avenues, a mid- to low-income residential
neighborhood. One wonders if the Chico police
would have
chased a teenager who had taken her mother's
car without permission through Chico's more
affluent neighborhoods, e.g., Garden Brook
Estates, California Park, or on Songbird Lane?
Quite frankly, I believe
neither one of these pursuits would have
occurred in these more prestigious
neighborhoods, even if similar situations had
occurred in these areas. The police
would have found a different way to catch
these suspects.
In Stockton, the police had
identified the suspect as a high school
student. He was seen leaving the school's
parking lot prior to the pursuit. In Chico,
the full identity and address of the teen was
known prior to the pursuit. When officers observed
her driving prior
to the pursuit, she was not
speeding; she was not running stop signs.
--Candy
Priano, Chico
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