police chases

[justfred]

Can any of our American friends explain why the police in your country do not use stingers as our police do when they want to stop a suspect car.
The stinger if you do not know what it is is a device which a policeman will throw into the path of a speeding or suspect vehicle. This punctures the tyres and releases the air slowly so as not to cause a crash. Driving on flat tyres usually is enough to bring a vehicle to a stop.
I have been watching police chases in the States and they (The police) seem just content to follow for as long as it takes, sometimes for an hour. To me this can be a danger to the general public to allow a chase to go on for such a long time.

 

[tnthomas]

The police do use devices to flatten the tires on a suspect's car, when there is an opportunity.

Not very likely, in heavy traffic on an urban freeway section.

 

[AZ Jim]

Here they are called stop sticks and are used in every dept. across the land.

 

[Falcon]

I like to watch them. They almost always get caught. The drivers always wind up in the road, flat on their stomachs, handcuffed behind their backs.

Seems they never learn.