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About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 3, 1993)
Wednesday, November 3,1993__________ __________________ Opinion_________ _____ HMMWackamas Print Pg. 5 Police take life and matters into their hands by Jennifer Gunst Staff Writer Every year almost 500,000 police pursuits occur across the nation and approximately 300 people die each year as a result Two unnecessary chase incidents took place late this summer which demonstrated the real dangers in volved in the game of cops and robbers. The problem is that many of these high-speed pursuits are ini tiated by police on an emotional impulse, not due to necessity or because of instruction. Sotheques- tion of necessity needs to be ad dressed: when are police required to launch a high speed car chase? According to the Aug. 27 article in The Oregonian, agent John McMahon with the federal bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, instructed agents not to chase suspect Keith James unless something with the magnitude of a hostage situation occurred. James had been involvedin a drugs-for- automatic-weapons sting on Aug. 25, but when he realized it was a Setup, he fled the scene. *. McMahon ordered deputies to “Let him go!” although the of ficers allege that they did not hear the no-chase order and therefore did not heed to it. James had been driving at speeds of more than 60 miles per hour during rush-hour traffic not much longer than two minutes,when hecollidedon High way 212 with Oregon City resi- ever neither the Clackamas County Sheriffs Department or the AFT accepts responsibility. They de fend themselves with flimsy argu ments such as radio complications and miscommunication, when in actuality, they had egos to main two teenage boys from North Port land, neither of them owning a license. Officer Bob Maple was not successful at pulling the suspect over, so 16-year-old driver Jeffery Fuller led police on another high Now that Clackamas County officers have learned the painful lesson adrenaline has taught them, I hope they think twice when they tear out after an assailant and hopefully will leave their egos in the back seat. dentRamona Heinze head on, kill ing her as well as himself. Heinze, 39, was returning from a week-long visit in Redmond, Ore., and just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. McMahon, seemingly the only officer at the scene with a Sensible head, had realized that chasing James would be too risky. And besides that, they knew James’ address and license plate number, making it possible and relatively easy to arrest him later. Clearly this mishap repre sents an instance of a judgment error on behalf of the police. How- tain and a reputation to uphold. It is this type of reckless Dukes of Hazard behavior that results in real-life fatalities. Although the police may defend themselves concerning the incident of Aug. 25, there is no excuse for the incident on the night of Aug. 26, coincidentally less than a mile from the crash the day earlier. The Oregonian reported that Clackamas deputies spotted a car around 1 a.m. with its tail lights out and suspected the driver might be drunk. The car had really been stolen earlier that evening by speed chase on to Highway 212. Police allege they never reached speeds over the speed limit, al though the driver disagreed. He admitted he was exceeding the 45 miles per hour limit and the police vehicle was within a few feet close behind. Consequently, the chase ended in another crash, as Fuller lost control on a junction turn to Carver and slid to the bottom of an 80-foot embankment. Stolen car passenger Cody Tidwell died on impact. Clackamas County policy states that without supervisor au thorization, deputies may not give chase if the suspect is not involved in a major felony and if they know the identity and whereabouts of the suspect which they believe can be arrested later. Clackamas police violated policy on both occasions. They may not allow themselves to be accountable, but will they con sider that they might have contrib uted to the cause of three deaths? Notonly does poor judgement like this endanger the lives of the pur suer and the pursued, but the lives of everyone sharing the road. Oregon police need to offer new training that encourages of ficers to practicerestraint and good judgment. They need to realize that those they chase have not attended the Emergency Vehicle Operations Course that they have, and most likely will falter at a sharp turn or busy intersection. Officers need to put their policy to use and resort to hot pursuit as a last resort Now that Clackamas County officers have learned the painful lesson adrenaline has taught them, they'll think twice when they tear out after an assail ant and hopefully will leave their egos in the back seat. New generation: alternative versus mainstream ■ Sub-culture slides into normalcy by Christopher Haberman Staff Writer I remember a time when people had to go downtown to buy a “good” shirt, or to a thrift shop to purchase the clothing they liked. But that has all changed now. The introduction of Hot topic, a cloth- ing/merchandise store now at Clackamas Town Center has changed the ideas of “our” sub culture. Pop-culture inadvertently absorbed all of the ideas and con cepts privately- held by an under ground society and neatly mar keted it into the mainstream, ulti mately destroying what was cool and transforming it into a money- makingmonster. Hot Topic is this uncontrollable monster, feeding on trends and lifestyles that were mocked years before. Hot Topic enjoys good business through high prices and over-marketed items. They have an entire wall of T-shirts of bands and events, including an official Lollapalooza Tourshirtfrom 1993. They also display jewelry, chok ers, Doc Martens, stickers, hats and really over-pricedclothing that can be purchased at any inner-city garage sale. The pop-culture has defi nitely taken away the clothing from Generation X, but will the music, which spawned the trends, last after the fads are dead? The “grunge” look has become so hot over the past few years that it is surely ready to crash and bum. But what will happen to the people that really live and breathe this environment and its music? Will they simply be outcasts again in a society that once thought them the current rage, or will they over come the pop-culture and once again construct a new under ground? Somewhere between the unknown and the cool everything I loved became neatly packaged and pressed for mass consump tion. Sub-culture bands have be come poster-boys for the MTV generation, now in the spotlight absorbing the bucks from pop la bels that have hungrily thrust them into rock stardom. Because of the industry and the culture ’ s trends, fake Doc ’ s can be bought at Voltime Shoe Source and flannels are the-newest birth of Nordstrom. Fashion de signers paint their models with ripped jeans and mountains of dirty leather, topped with a neat butt part in their perfectly clean hair. Right now the corpora tions or the Man want to bring all the kids together. Rap and Alter ative being fused together in Judge ment Night, the newest Emilio Estevez film, is a perfect example of selling a merging of people as well as music. Letters to Editor: Transplant patient, mother, say thanks To the Editor: Please pass along to ev eryone involved my thank you for printing my “Wanted Alive” flyer in your Oct. 20 edition. Response from family, friends and the com munity has been just outstanding. Dollars, prayers and good wishes have certainly made it easier and erased that alone feeling one might get in a situation like this. To date, Marilyn and I have achieved the minimum re quired deposit of $150,000 in or der to become listed, but continue in our efforts of fund raising. The final tab is yet to be determined. Each lung transplant patient re acts differently to the procedure so in-hospital stay can vary from pa tient to patient. Again, many thanks for the effort and community support. Warm regards, Michael O’Connor Staff and Management ,.:F;Young Parent^gyl||^| Opportunity Program ' ' „ To All Concerned:: Thank you, ttiánk -yóü,; thank youF;'Thank:you seems Such an inadequate. phrásé for describing how grateful-both Becky and 1. are. The Opportuni ties you are providing all of t hese young girls, atid the future they can look forward to because of ; your efforts are beyond. descrip tion. ; Without this program, there would be no hope or future for Becky or S ierra. Because of the: financial situation, we would never be able to pay for dayÓaré for Sierra if Becky were to tty to ret uro to a “normal” school situ-: ation. Sho ts sd very young, and come depressed andlethargic. As insurmountable obstacles in our it was, she loved going to work way to trying to provideai 1?righ(' jeach day, and if there is ever any- future for both her and herdaugh- thinglcandotoaidyourprogram, ter. It was a very depressing situ- i please let me know. Whatever ation. Then we heard about the i. time I have, in any way I could. I program you offer, and there was would be .more than happy to as- hopeandeuthusiasm. Maybe there sist 1 am starting a small home would be something'Tnore than word' process i n g , business, •. and government assistance would be delighted to assist in any and Sierra, Just maybe she could correspondence or newsletter typ- have her baby and stili have an ing. I also have a laser printer and education.. It. was such a blessing a great print shop package which to find out that be sunshine in a may be of help. . • rather dark, ominous future. F...: í Thank you for all you have • FF; Also,Becky has been able to i done for uá¿/ If ybuever need . a; work in day care throughout the test imonial as to the validity. of Summer;: ': This has given her .a your program, I would be glad to scuse of pride and accomplish give it, or do anything else to pro ment that: she never would have mote the: contintiance of this won had if it hadn’tbecn foryourstaffs derful work you aredoing with our encouragement and pojptiverein- young people. You are all to be forcement She would have stayed commended. home with Sierra all summer, be- Sincerely, ]^miOyrite:. ' A Grateful Mother and Grandmother REALLY BIG