Cop Choices

Once again the forums of Santa Rosa's daily are over ridden with racist venting. It seems that yesterday a possibly intoxicated man had the audacity to flee detention. And be Latino. At the same time. The cops decided to chase him, on foot, by car, and with air support. No less than three agencies were involved: The Sonoma County Sheriffs Department, the Santa Rosa Police Department, and California Highway Patrol. That concentration of police forces says something about the climate of the neighborhood. I'm not defending public drunkenness (which is alleged at this point, not proved), so much as questioning police tactics. What did chasing this guy down, calling out multiple agencies, calling in air support accomplish? It got three deputies hurt, the arrestee hospitalized, a copwatchers videotape and camera confiscated, and attracted a neighborhood crowd to witness the arrest. If that is the goal, then job well done, if it isn't then the cops need to change what they are doing.