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PRESS RELEASE <br /> Derek D. Dieter <br /> Press Conference <br /> 030514 1:00pm <br /> City Council Office <br /> Recently the South Bend Police Department was involved in a high speed chase <br /> that resulted in injuries and property damage. As a former officer, who was in <br /> dozens of chases, I am looking at ways to help the Police Department minimize <br /> the risk to life and property damage. <br /> One such system is Star Chase. I have reached out to uniform Chief Scott <br /> Ruszkowski, to look into this further. As the budget gets closer to review, the <br /> Health and Public Safety committee will gather input costs for such a system. <br /> • On the average crashes due to police chase's and police calls result in the <br /> death of one person a day-1/3 of which are innocent bystanders <br /> ® 43% of pursuit are related directly to traffic violations <br /> ® Over 55,000 people are injured a year <br /> • Billions of dollars have been paid out in jury-awarded damages <br /> Cars chases have been glamorized through the years in movies and television, <br /> scenes from Steve McQueen in Bullitt, Gene Hackman in the French Connection, <br /> and even the Blue Brothers project the thrill and excitement of a police chase. <br /> There are dozens of police chases shown during weekly crime shows on <br /> television, but the reality is that chases are dangerous for the public and <br /> officers. <br /> This type of technology lets police "tag" the suspect vehicle and reduces the risk <br /> of high pursuit driving by being able to track the vehicle. <br />