Griffin Speaks

A few years ago, my family and I attended one of several retirement receptions given for my father-in-law and mother-in-law. The reception took place at Central High School in Lowdnes County, Alabama. My father-in-law Mr. Joe Thomas was retiring from his position as Director of the vocational school. Mrs. Thomas was retiring from her teaching position at the elementary school. It would turn out to be one of the most exciting days of my life. 

At the time I was State Chairman of the Republican Council, the black arm of the State Republican Party. The position was the same held by Dr. Joe Reed as Chairman of the Alabama Democratic Conference. We were growing our numbers; in fact we had over seven people on the books as paid members. My position kept me busy. I would need to return to Montgomery earlier than my wife so we drove separate vehicles. Christopher my youngest son was three years old at the time. He wanted to ride back with me so I agreed to let him ride. 

Everything was going well until we reached Interstate 65 in Montgomery. I entered the fast lane to pass a slow moving vehicle then looked into my rearview mirror to return to the regular lane. I could not believe what I saw in the mirror. There were over ten police cars with flashing blue lights behind me in both lanes. I had to reach a speed of ninety miles an hour to keep from being run over. In the lane adjacent to me was a small car with a young black male shooting out the window at the police. Christopher was in the back seat of our van yelling “GO DADDY GO!” We eventually ended up on Madison Avenue with the fleeing suspect still shooting out his car window at police.The police shot and killed the fleeing suspect dead in front of a motel across the street from one of Montgomery’s most loved churches, St. John. Thank God it was a state holiday so the streets were not crowded. 

I was interviewed for the evening news. After the interview I regained my composure went home and threw my clothes in the washing machine. It was indeed a frightening experience. We could have been killed all because a young man stole a bottle of wine from a convience store. Should the police have chased this petty thief? 

To refuse an officer’s command to stop is a deliberate, contemptuous act. This usually does not sit well with the officer that has had his authority flaunted. When an officer gets involved in a high-speed chase, other officers are anxious to get involved. When a fleeing suspect shoots at an officer out of his car window, everybody gets involved. It is estimated that 1% of police chases end in fatalities. The person being pursued is most likely to be killed. Second are innocent parties, and third are police officers. Many police chases end in traffic accidents between 30-40%.

 I believe that we should have a national restrictive police chase policy. Officers believe that such a policy would encourage people to flaunt their authority, but jurisdictions that have implemented such policies have found the opposite. There have not been a larger number of people refusing to stop for the police. Public Safety should be our main concern and highspeed police chases should become much more restrictive. Turn your radio down and look out for that flashing blue light. 

Greg Griffin is a freelance writer. You can read his previous articles by logging on to his web page at www.greggriffin.com