I would like to see statistics on this. Given 1/3 of all police chases end with a crash I have a hard time believing that more people are being killed by joyriders than as a result of high speed chases but I'm willing to learn something new if you have numbers to back this up.
I did read the letter written by the Alderman, but I am unconvinced that the uptick in many of the crimes listed is due to the no-pursuit policy. I would like to see a direct comparison of current deaths from joyriders to deaths from previous police pursuits. Also, IMO as much as I feel property crimes, robberies, etc. shouldn't be given a free pass, I am not willing to accept high numbers of deaths in our communities due to these pursuits as the cost of enforcing the law against those crimes. This isn't an abstract numbers game for people have lost and will lose loved ones - it's a shame that the police feel as though criminals are "laughing in their faces" (as the letter states)- but I'm not willing to to say, whelp, 1 in 3 is fine odds to gamble on people's lives. Your mileage may vary, as they say.
I didn't say, nor did the alderman say that MORE people were being killed. I said that despite the no chase policy, people were and are STILL being killed. What is a fact is that more cars are being stolen, more carjackings are occurring, at least the same amount of drug dealing is occurring, and all with fewer arrests.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwau...arply-in-milwaukee-b99623076z1-357239181.html
While I believe it's an admiral goal to try and not have needless deaths due to police chases, what ensues when the police stop chasing is something akin to the Wild West. You say that you are not willing to accept high numbers of deaths in an attempt to stop property crimes. I wonder where you live. Are you able to safely put your children into the car for school in the morning without fear of having your car stolen at gun point, perhaps with your child inside? That just happened a few weeks ago on the south side of Milwaukee.
http://fox6now.com/2016/05/26/polic...jacked-her-one-month-old-baby-inside-the-car/
So, in my mind, we aren't risking fewer lives with a no chase policy, but instead are encouraging even more crime, and even more brazen crimes. Not to mention, creating even more flight from the city. Crime creates a vicious cycle. High crime leads to people with the means to, moving to the suburbs, leaving only the criminals, those without the means to move and us hard core city dwellers who may just have a screw or two loose. Crime lowers property values and property taxes. People start not wanting to come into the city and end up spending their money in the suburbs. Without sufficient tax revenue, the city can't afford enough police, or good schools, giving people even more reasons to flee.
In a perfect world we could look at things like car theft as "just a property crime" and all agree that it's not worth risking anyone's life for a car, but to do so we'd also need to turn a blind eye to the much larger picture.
Here is an accident in which two teenagers were killed and three more people were injured when the teen driving a stolen car blew a red light and was struck by another car. I drive on Lloyd St every day, this is MY neighborhood. Also note the article mentions another car theft "accident" in which a retired couple was killed when their car was struck.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/crime/...lwaukees-west-side-b99469449z1-297581461.html.
What is happening in and to the city of Milwaukee is a tragedy. I don't know what the answer is, but I can guarantee it's not what we are currently doing.