SACRAMENTO -- Police departments and their officers -- who lack good car chase policies and annual training -- must meet a July 1 deadline to do so or lose immunity to civil lawsuits worth untold millions of dollars, the state is warning.
Many departments throughout the Bay Area and across California are going to miss the deadline, according to sources. The state has issued an alert as a reminder of the landmark 2005 legislation that addressed deadly car chases.
The 2005 measure was triggered by critics' assertions that to cops in some areas, fleeing cars are like fumbled footballs in the Super Bowl -- everyone wants in on the action. Radios crackle, adrenaline pumps, lights flash and sirens go on.
In the latest annual government reporting period, California pursuits killed 32 people and injured 1,200 -- many of them innocent.
The nearly-forgotten SB719, by Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles -- which won unanimous backing by lawmakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger -- also increased penalties for fleeing suspects, provided for public education campaigns and required police reporting on chases.
"For the last 20 years, California has led the nation in the number of deaths resulting from high-speed vehicle chases," Romero said. "After years of work on this issue, we found a way to put some teeth into California law and save innocent lives, while still enabling cops to do their job."
Under her law, everyone from the chief to the newest rookie has to go through the special class or lose government immunity from civil prosecution, both for their department and as an individual
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Many departments throughout the Bay Area and across California are going to miss the deadline, according to sources. The state has issued an alert as a reminder of the landmark 2005 legislation that addressed deadly car chases.
The 2005 measure was triggered by critics' assertions that to cops in some areas, fleeing cars are like fumbled footballs in the Super Bowl -- everyone wants in on the action. Radios crackle, adrenaline pumps, lights flash and sirens go on.
In the latest annual government reporting period, California pursuits killed 32 people and injured 1,200 -- many of them innocent.
The nearly-forgotten SB719, by Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles -- which won unanimous backing by lawmakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger -- also increased penalties for fleeing suspects, provided for public education campaigns and required police reporting on chases.
"For the last 20 years, California has led the nation in the number of deaths resulting from high-speed vehicle chases," Romero said. "After years of work on this issue, we found a way to put some teeth into California law and save innocent lives, while still enabling cops to do their job."
Under her law, everyone from the chief to the newest rookie has to go through the special class or lose government immunity from civil prosecution, both for their department and as an individual
MORE at
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