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posted by takyon on Thursday October 04 2018, @05:40AM   Printer-friendly
from the no-more-chase-scenes dept.

Bold new plan for police pursuits:

Constable Peter McAulay, 24, was hit early [on the morning of Sept. 27] after setting up road spikes to try and stop two teenagers in an allegedly stolen vehicle. A 16-year-old boy and 15-year-old girl have been charged with attempted murder after Constable McAulay was rushed to Brisbane's Princess Alexandra Hospital with serious head injuries and broken bones and fractures.

After the horrific crash, Queensland Police Union President Ian Leavers is calling for remote vehicle immobilisers to become mandatory in new cars.

"I started in 2012. I have written to three successive prime ministers but it is now time for action, bipartisan support. With remote engine immobilisers there will never be a need for a police pursuit," Mr Leavers told Today. "The primary situation is to protect lives and property. It can improve safety. It is a great thing. It is a no-brainer. We need to change the Australian design regulation. Within five to 10 years there will never be another police pursuit. We will be able to disable any stolen car at any point in time and ensure safety. It is commonsense."

The proposed engine immobilisers wouldn't just be able to stop a car in its tracks, police would also be able to track vehicles through GPS.


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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by ledow on Thursday October 04 2018, @07:17AM (4 children)

    by ledow (5567) on Thursday October 04 2018, @07:17AM (#743899) Homepage

    You should always question when a technology for this kind of thing turns into presumption of guilt.

    If a cop car has road spikes (a "stinger" in the UK), then they are presuming that most cars won't ever need to be stopped, just the ones they put it in front of.

    If they have handcuffs, or batons, or even a gun, that they hardly ever pull out, then they are presuming that most people are actually not doing anything to necessitate their usage.

    But when you start down "we want every car to have this... JUST IN CASE that person turns out to be a criminal one day" or even "we pull guns on EVERY vehicle stop", that's when you've gone too far. You're presuming that most people are guilty - not just a small majority, but that almost everyone is potentially guilty.

    In all my life in the UK, I've encountered the police about 5-6 times. Each time, they asked me to stop. They presumed I would. If I was in a vehicle they pulled in gently behind, not assuming I was going to drive off. They asked me a question or two. Never assuming that I'd actually done anything wrong. A couple of times they were obviously exercising their discretion and could have been nastier if they wanted, but decided to just believe "Oh, no, sorry, I really didn't notice that light was out... I'll get it changed".
      They usually made some kind of joke and apology for stopping me unnecessarily. We went our ways. There was never any hint of a weapon, force, trying to crowd-me-out, or anything else. It was always like being stopped by a little old man who does the caretaking. "Excuse me, sir, sorry, could I just stop you a moment". There was never a presumption that I was doing whatever I was doing maliciously or deliberately.

    As soon as the presumption of innocence is lost you'll get stuff like this, and things will continue to escalate.

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  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 04 2018, @08:40AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 04 2018, @08:40AM (#743941)

    Yeah the world is going to suck in 10 to 20 years when everything is tracked and everything is recorded. The generation after will not appreciate how nice life used to be.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 04 2018, @08:42PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 04 2018, @08:42PM (#744308)

      What are we going to do about it?

      Oh right, we have to vote for the Republicrats because the Dempublicans are more evil! Or the other strategy sure to cause a revolution overnight: stick it to the man by not voting at all!

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 04 2018, @08:53AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 04 2018, @08:53AM (#743946)

    Soylentils! We have found the Cereal Killer!

  • (Score: 3, Funny) by mhajicek on Thursday October 04 2018, @03:15PM

    by mhajicek (51) on Thursday October 04 2018, @03:15PM (#744119)

    In the US if they're pulling you over for a taillight out they walk up with one hand on their sidearm, shine a million candlepower light right in your eyes, and ask you where you've been drinking tonight.

    --
    The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek