Posted: | January 9, 2015 04:18 PM |
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From: | Representative Mike Regan |
To: | All House members |
Subject: | Fleeing a Police Officer on foot |
In the near future, I plan to introduce legislation to address an individual fleeing a police officer on foot. Section 3733 of the Vehicle Code makes it an offense for a driver to willfully fail to stop, flee, or elude a police officer who has given a signal to the driver to bring his vehicle to a stop. The language of the statute, however, does not apply to a person who pulls his vehicle over, but then flees on foot or otherwise fails to remain with the car. Many police officers report this frequently occurs and when it does it not only requires additional police response, but if a foot chase occurs, it may pose a danger to the officer as well as the public. If the person eventually surrenders without a struggle, there are no consequences for the trouble caused. I intend to introduce legislation which will correct that loophole by amending Section 3733 to require a person who has been ordered to pull his vehicle over not only to stop, but also remain in or at the vehicle. Grading of the offense would be the same as is now applied to a failure to stop the vehicle. I welcome your support for this piece of legislation. |
Introduced as HB220