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| NEWS > 08 August 2011 |
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UK: Disgraced police chief who tried to help a relative join his force gets £200,000 payout
A chief constable who admitted gross misconduct is in line to receive more than
£200,000 in compensation after his police authority decided not to renew his
contract.
It has emerged that North Yorkshire Police Authority would have to make the
payment to Grahame Maxwell because he is required to leave his £133,000-a year
post before being able to secure his full pension entitlement after 30 years of
service.
The payment - which is governed by nationally-agreed chief officer regulations -
must be made after Mr Maxwell leaves the force next May unless he obta... Read more
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 Article sourced from
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Kansas City Star
08 August 2011
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To view it in its entirity click this link.
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Ethics in Policing
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USA: Policy changes haven't reduced police chases
Over the past decade, many Kansas police departments have taken hard looks at their high-speed chase policies, and a 2005 law makes it first-degree murder if a driver kills someone while running from police.
But despite the changes, Kansas drivers are continuing to run from the law at a steady clip, and they're still causing crashes more than four times a week on Kansas roads and highways.
Newly released Kansas Department of Transportation accident data shows that five people died in police-pursuit crashes in 2009 — slightly above the average for the decade.
In Wichita last year, police were involved in 170 chases, the lowest total since they began keeping detailed records in 2006. As in previous years, about one in four chases last year in Wichita ended in a crash.
Law enforcement agencies sometimes differ over police chase policies, as each tries to weigh the risks of a crash against the prospects of letting a bad guy go.
But most Kansas law enforcement officials agree that unless there's a serious crackdown on those who elude police, chases and the crashes they sometimes cause will continue. And with the state's prisons and jails full, they say, it's not likely that a crackdown will come soon.
Pratt County Sheriff Vernon Chinn, who was a strong backer of the 2005 law, said he would like to see the crime of eluding a police officer elevated at least to the level of the crime of driving under the influence of alcohol.
He said he realizes that lawmakers are unlikely to pass a law that gets tough with those who flee from police as long as state prisons are full.
"If someone goes in, someone has to come out," Chinn said. "If it has a negative impact on bed space, it's not going to pass."
Chinn said he would support a law that requires mandatory jail time for all first-time offenders.
"I just personally think the penalty is not high enough, and that's why you're not seeing a significant decrease in police chases," he said.
"The bottom line is the law we have encourages people to run."
Under current Kansas law, drivers who flee from police under normal circumstances are guilty of misdemeanors on their first and second convictions.
State law makes a third conviction for eluding an officer a felony. A first offense also becomes a felony if a driver fails to stop at a road block, drives around tire-deflating devices, is involved in an accident, engages in reckless driving, or commits five or more moving violations during the chase.
Chase statistics
From 2000 through 2009, KDOT figures show, 38 people died in crashes that occurred during police chases in Kansas.
The victims included 26 drivers who were fleeing from police and seven who were passengers in vehicles that were being pursued. Five of the victims had no involvement in the chase that led to their deaths.
Wichita Deputy Police Chief Tom Stolz said his department rewrote its chase policy after a July 6, 1999, accident at Douglas and Oliver that killed Dale and Joyce Cauthon of Independence.
"That event triggered a massive overhaul of the WPD chase policy," he said.
The fleeing driver, Gloria Dupree, was suspected of stealing clothes from Towne East Square, and she was fleeing from police when she ran a red light and caused the crash.
Dupree was convicted of second-degree murder and won't be eligible for parole until 2019. Now 55, Dupree is a maximum-security inmate at the Larned State Hospital.
Because pursuing officers had the tag number of the car Dupree was driving, Stolz said, they could have tracked her down and charged her later.
"We knew who she was, so there was really no need to chase her," Stolz said. "We could have put a warrant out for her arrest and been done with it."
Under the old policy, officers could chase a suspect who committed a traffic infraction or a misdemeanor crime even if the officers knew who the person was.
With the new policy, if officers identify a suspect they're chasing through a tag number or other means, they are routinely asked to call off the pursuit and make an arrest later.
Even when officers don't know the identity of the person being chased, they or their supervisor can end a pursuit if it poses a moderate or high risk to public safety.
The new policy says that whenever possible, the police helicopter should join in a pursuit. But of the 170 pursuits in 2010, police statistics show, the helicopter was available for only 10.
Stolz said the department started collecting detailed crash data in 2006, in part because of another crash that took the life of an innocent motorist.
That crash occurred on Oct. 5, 2004, when a pickup driven by a man who was running from police crashed into a car at Pawnee and Rock Road.
The man, Jeffrey S. Drechsler, threatened his girlfriend with an ax before running a red light at 50 mph.
Drechsler, 42, died in the crash. The driver of the car, Amy Robbins, 29, of Wichita, died a few days later.
Robbins' death may have been on the minds of many legislators the following spring when they added eluding police to the list of crimes that become first-degree murder when they result in a death.
Phil Journey was in the Kansas Senate when that law was passed. Before joining the Legislature, he served as a public defender in Wichita Municipal Court, where he often represented clients charged in misdemeanor eluding-police cases. Now a District Court judge, Journey has presided at felony trials where drivers are accused of eluding police.
Journey said most drivers who run from police have a suspended driver's license and know they'll go to jail if they get caught.
"With almost every evade and elude I deal with, they're driving on a suspended license and don't want to go to jail again," he said. "I'll bet you 80 percent of them are driving while suspended."
Journey said one way to reduce police chases would be to make it easier for people with suspended licenses to find ways to drive legally. Although there are ways to get temporary or restricted driving privileges, he said, many drivers with suspended licenses don't know about them.
Journey said he supports the new Wichita police chase policy.
"There's been a big change in how they do it," he said. "Ten or 15 years ago, they chased them every time, all the time. I remember when they used to chase them until they ran run out of gas.
"Now, if it's something piddly, like stealing a lighter from QuikTrip, they'll call it off."
Journey said he realizes that there are few driving conditions more perilous than sharing the road with someone fleeing from police.
"They're generally not the best drivers to begin with, and now they're driving like crazy people," he said. "That's when people get hurt.
"There's no doubt that the new policy has prevented a lot of fatal accidents."
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