To the editor: So, this new toy is going to cost us taxpayers at least $5,000 per unit (“Police think this contraption can bring high-speed chases to an end,” May 7). Police departments are skeptical about its effectiveness, and the manufacturer “claims” an 86% success rate, with no mention of proof for this statistic from either it or the agencies that have used the product.
I ask everyone to imagine trying to maneuver within 5 feet of a fleeing, swerving car at 100 mph or faster, and trying to find that deploy button while also watching the road at that speed. All that while trying not to kill bystanders or other drivers in the process.
This sounds exactly like the kind of expensive boondoggle that keeps us throwing the majority of our budget at the Los Angeles Police Department and California Highway Patrol.
How about just telling all of those hyped-up cowboys to not conduct deadly high-speed chases in the first place? It’s just become an insanely dangerous form of sport for toxic masculinity and ad revenue for TV news stations, all for property crimes, misdemeanors and possibly nothing at all.
Just stop that madness to begin with.
Mickey Fielding, Baldwin Hills
