mds (anonymous) says...

Next time they need to think about calling off a chase when it is headed through a school zone. I was at the intersection watching kids trying to cross the street when they went blowing through there. Is a stolen car important enough to risk our kids lives trying to go to school. There were sheriff dept. car right behind the car and then there were ones several blocks back that still blew through there when they could have chose not to run full speed through the school zone as the car was already covered.

September 9, 2008 at 8:51 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Summer_Breeze (anonymous) says...

Amen, MDS! I don't understand what law enforcement is thinking sometimes! Thank God no school child was hurt.

September 9, 2008 at 9 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Dollface13 (anonymous) says...

That was ridiculus. I was coming over the bridge when I saw them fly by. HELLO our kids are walking to school - and riding the bus. I almost went back to see if my 3 year old son( who Just got on the bus) was going to be alright. Law Enforcement is supposed to protect us NOT ENDANGER US. That should have been called off

September 9, 2008 at 9:34 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

flowerpower (anonymous) says...

I too was waiting with my son to get on the bus when the chase blew threw our neighborhood. It was scary! Has it been confirmed that this was a stolen vehicle?

September 9, 2008 at 10:09 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

apierich (anonymous) says...

My husband told me that he was going around the roundabout on the west side of Emporia when a police officer came around the other side, flipped around and turned his lights and sirens on and the car behind my husband took off. It rattled him since he was bringing my son to preschool but he took the opportunity to tell my son that that was the reason you don't run from police. It's scary and you can hurt people that you don't mean to. Also, it shouldn't matter if the car was stollen or not, evading police and running like that is illegal and the people should be in trouble for taking off like that, at least the police are trained to drive at higher speeds when they need to and know how to avoid hitting bystandars. If you have nothing to run for, don't run!

September 9, 2008 at 10:30 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

missmuffett (anonymous) says...

I personally am glad our children are a little safer because the crimals that stole the car are now in custody. The police officers do use every caution to protect the citizens of Emporia, even the children in school zones. I wonder if the same sentiments would be written if their children had been hit by the stolen car, and the police had not been able to catch them. Why do people feel the need to condem the people that keep us safe. If Dollface was concerned about her son's safety, she should have gone back. I commend all the
law enforcement in our community, Good job! I am proud of all your hard work.

September 9, 2008 at 10:49 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

hawks422 (anonymous) says...

It never seems to amaze me that society is ready to shift the blame awyay from the root of the problem. The police aren't at fault here, the second those indviduals got in that car without permission & stole it, puts lives in danger. The police are trying to do the best job they can! Just thank your luck stars the bad guys didn't commit some other hanious crime while riding around in a stolen vehicle, if they would have... ya'll would of been bitchin about the lack of police presence!!!

September 9, 2008 at 10:59 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

allincalldangit (anonymous) says...

Give me a break, the police were doing their job. If the stolen car had hit a kid like it was mentioned in the previous post, and the cops didn't catch them you guys would be condemning them for not doing their job and keeping Emporia safe. Now that they are doing their job you are still complaining.

September 9, 2008 at 11:17 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

deborah_1961 (anonymous) says...

I am so glad that my granddaughter did not have to witness that up by the schools. These people that did need to realize all the lives that they put in jeopardy this morning over something stupid. What would of happened if they would have hit a child this morning? Then we would all be on here talking about something else. Kudos to the Police Department for getting this under control.

September 9, 2008 at 11:35 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

cepperly (anonymous) says...

WOW! Bash the police for catching some car theives and recovering somebodies property. Chases aren't fun and like I've said before, we cannot allow people to elude the police. Law enforcement will be inefective to the community and then you'll wine about that. Sounds to me like they made good decisions and acted appropriately. You'd be suprised how much due regard goes in to ALL the decisions made by the police during a chase. And finally, if they wanted to be glorified and put in the spot light, they wouldn't be beat cops, they'd be polititions. If you have any questions about the chase, call the Sheriff, he's a politition. He'll tell you what you want to hear and make you feel good about yourself.

September 9, 2008 at 11:42 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Dollface13 (anonymous) says...

No one is trying to blame anyone yeah, duh,the cops werent the bad guys -thats common sense. Some of us are worried about our kids. The car running didnt care about anything but getting away. Yes missmuffet. our kids know the sound of sirens but pretty sure if the car lost control trying to get away speeding like he was- cuz i saw-(did u) no kid could react that fast. That was our point. People running will do anything to get away and not think about oh hold on this is a school zone there might be a kid let me slow down GET REAL

September 9, 2008 at 1:01 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

MisterO (anonymous) says...

Scary? Yes. Dangerous? You betcha.

But...the cops aren't the ones who did something wrong - the criminals who refused to stop are the ones who did something wrong.

What do you think would happen if the police made it a policy not to pursue criminals - school zone or not?

Do ya think maybe that would embolden (or en-stupid) the criminals even more just knowing the police won't try to follow them?

I commend the police officers for doing their job despite all the negative comments and criticism they receive for it. Their jobs are hard enough as it is without all the flak.

September 9, 2008 at 1:23 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

spectator (anonymous) says...

Pursuits are dangerous and quite often begin "only" with a stolen car. The occupants usually steal a vehicle because they're trying to elude law enforcement AND a more serious offense. If it's "only" a stolen car, I guess it's also O.K. to let the crooks go on their merry way? If the occupants are wanted in reference to a homicide, sexual assault, rape, etc you'd maybe want law enforcement to try a little harder to catch them? No? How are the law enforcement people to know if it's "only" a stolen car and just let it go? And since so many are complaining the pursuit endangered children, what if they did a (God forbid!) homicide, sexual assault, rape, etc involving your kid? NOW how badly do you want the bad guys caught?

September 9, 2008 at 1:43 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

shay001 (anonymous) says...

Congratulations to all that apprehended the criminals, job well done. THANK YOU! I still appreciate all you do. It still amazes me that some think you want a plaque, trophy or name in the paper – what a joke! We need to catch the criminals (with due regard to public safety of course. Goes back to that training in Salina or Hutchison remember the months you got to stay there). When we quit pursing criminals, criminals get away. Then as the criminal intellect is, they escalate their criminal activity. I wonder what is in these three’s history, shoplifting, stolen stereo, DUI, drugs…. The criminals endangered the public by running…. Now set an example of them. Cepperly good comments I’ll be the one pulling to the right and stopping! GO GET EM’

September 9, 2008 at 1:46 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

OutsiderJ (anonymous) says...

In all fairness to both sides, I believe it is standard procedure to break off a chase if it gets to the point that bystander casualties are iminent. For instance a crowded downtown area with a lot of traffic or a rush hour freeway. It is most assuredly up to the responding officers to make that decision. The EPD seems well trained, and I am sure they would have ended the pursuit if they thought there was any real danger of injuring school chidren or pedestrians. Way to catch the bad guys. As a past victim of car theft, I am sure that the owner of the car will be pleased with your performance today.

September 9, 2008 at 2:03 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

coldhardtruth (anonymous) says...

The police also found another stolen car in the back yard of one of the suspects who lived in the 900 block of Lawrence St. As for the police chase, they weren't driving that fast. Maybe 55-60 mph through the school zone. And if they would of hit someone, they'd just charge the person driving the stolen car anyways, so the police don't worry too much about how fast they go in a chase.

September 9, 2008 at 2:11 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

outdoorguy (anonymous) says...

Thank God this happened inside the Emporia city limits where the Lyon County Deputies presence is strongest! If it happened in county, no one probally would have saw the car to apprend them!

September 9, 2008 at 2:46 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

native_emporia (anonymous) says...

After reading through the posts I would like to make a statement from the viewpoint I had this morning. I agree that everyone would be upset if the stolen vehicle had hit a child and the police had not pursued the suspect vehicle. Having said that, the police vehicle I witnessed this morning was an EPD car flying down 6th street through the school zone in front of the Lowther buildings. At that point the stolen vehicle was on S. Commercial and had taken a completely different route to get there, not going through the school zone. So it was not necessary for that particular police vehicle to fly through the school zone, putting children at risk.

I too am glad we had officers that got these criminals off our streets, but next time it would be nice if not every officer in town thought they needed get in on the action and put our children at risk. Maybe some further training is needed on how to handle these situations properly.

September 9, 2008 at 4:15 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

dhcc66 (anonymous) says...

how about we do this....lets bash the bad guys for 1. stealing a car 2. running toward the city where the population is denser than where they started 3. continuing to run even though they were going through school zones 4. trying to bump the deputies off of the road and causing what was i'm sure more of a traffic issue than what the pursing deputies were causing.
reality here people. if criminals didn't commit crimes, then law enforcement wouldn't have to pursue them. if you want to complain, do it to your legislators who have over the years weakened the sentencing guidelines so that repeat offenders still get short time or no time at all.

September 9, 2008 at 4:17 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

emporian (anonymous) says...

If you think you can do a better job the city is hiring for more Police Officers.
http://www.emporia-kansas.gov/HumRes....

September 9, 2008 at 4:40 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

slipandslide (anonymous) says...

this is a good example of why grade school aged kids need to be taken to school by an adult. i know when my kids were that age , none of them had been good at judging the speed of cars and adjusting their reactions accordingly.

September 9, 2008 at 4:45 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

neighbor (anonymous) says...

Nice to see there are people with enough common sense to understand that if the Police called off chases that "endanger the public"(all of them do), then criminals would run everytime just to get away. They put those obnoxious noise makers(sirens) and light bars on the cars to warn everyone to get back out of the way, because danger is coming your way. Pull to the right and stop, back up away from the curb or edge of the road, and let them do their jobs people.

I'm certainly glad there are people willing to come running in to deal with dangerous criminals. Some of you don't desire their service and dedication, but they will come regardless when you call. Ditto the comment that the same people would be screaming Police negligence loudly had the car thieves struck a kid on the street at 60mph while the Police drove 20 mph in the school zone because of pathethically STUPID policy of backing off on car chases.

September 9, 2008 at 4:46 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

USNretired (anonymous) says...

Just think. If the police are chasing you, just drive by the nearest school and they will back off. If they find you again, just drive by another school. If the police did that then criminals would plan to drive through groups of kids every time they get chased. Your kids would really be in danger then. I am glad we have trained police, I just hope a Judge and Prosecutor do their jobs and put these jackasses away where they can't endanger anybody.

September 9, 2008 at 6:18 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

zippy (anonymous) says...

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all the law enforcement people. These criminals need to be put behind bars because their crimes are escalating into more serious offenses. I totally agree with USNretired.

September 10, 2008 at 8:15 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

webejamn (anonymous) says...

well at least they arnt dropping dope on people like they used to.

September 15, 2008 at 5:19 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

justthefacts (anonymous) says...

If you have proof officers are "dropping dope" on people why don't you go to the county attorney, the KBI or other agency? Or is it easier to just throw out something totally full of it to smear the reputation of the people who help keep this community safe? What a cheap shot. That's the problem with anonymous postings like this. I'm sure that people who are thinking about moving to Emporia or locating a business here are really impressed with this kind of stuff.

September 15, 2008 at 5:31 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

jayhawker (anonymous) says...

Overall, law enforcement in Emporia and Lyon County does a good job. I understand that there may be an issue with how much money the Police Department is spending given the limited funds available right now, but that does not change the fact that cops have a tough job. When they do a good job, as it appears that they did here, we should thank them. They get plenty of criticism when things don't go perfectly.

September 15, 2008 at 9:23 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )