Police officers probably feel they more often get treated like shit than are given breaks, but when stuff like this happens, it just galls me:
Back in September 2006 -- with no lights or siren
-- [New Jersey State Trooper] Robert Higbee ran a stop sign while in pursuit of a speeding suspect
in Upper Township.
Christina and Jacqueline Becker were on their way to buy milk, and happened to be in his path.
Christina and Jacqueline Becker were on their way to buy milk, and happened to be in his path.
He was acquitted of vehicular homicide, which in New Jersey requires a showing that the person driving acted recklessly:
A person acts recklessly when (he/she) consciously disregards a
substantial and unjustifiable risk that death will result from
(his/her) conduct. The risk must be of such a nature and degree that,
considering the nature and purpose of the defendant's conduct and the
circumstances known to (him/her), disregard of the risk involves a
gross deviation from the standard of conduct that a reasonable person
would observe in the defendant's situation.
So, you're engaged in a high-speed pursuit, in this case doing 80 in a 35 mph zone, and you don't have your lights or siren on. And you end up killing two kids. In any comparable civilian circumstance, that driver would not only be going to prison, he'd be getting the max. But because this guy is a cop, he walks.
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