Rants and Raves

My Rant
For anyone that lives in the Cabot area you should read the article in Wednesdays Leader Newspaper about the Police chasing a motorcycle. The article states that the police were in pursuit down S. Second Street (Hwy 367) at speeds up to 100 mph. The chase continued on into Pulaski County on Cleland Rd with speeds again up to 100 mph. Well, if you read my blog from last Thursday night you know what the outcome of this chase was. The bike crashed and the rider had to be med flighted out. The key element that most people miss in this story is the chase speed. Up to 100 mph??? WTF? Have the police lost their mind? This was around 6:30pm down one of the busier roads in the area. What possible outcome could the police have expected to happen? The guy just pull over?? I doubt it if he's already running. The officer in this pursuit put many lives in danger here. First off, if you chase a motorcycle, the only way they are stopping is either to run out of gas or crash. Usually the biker dies. In this case he survived but was this chase worth putting so many peoples lives in jeopardy? Just imagine topping the hill on 367 at 84 Lumber close to 100mph and someone is trying to turn right or left by Larry's. It's not going to be pretty and a siren only gives so much warning. Most Police Departments including the Pulaski County Sheriffs office have a "do not pursue" policy with motorcycles because it is useless. Someone is going to crash and get hurt. None of us wants it to be with our family or kids. And for what, a stolen motorcycle or drugs? Not worth it.

I did write a letter to the Leader and the Mayor expressing my concerns on this. The whole thing smelled cover up to me and several others, especially since Cabot had their Fire Department respond 10+ miles out of the city limits. The Leader wanted to publish it but due to possible repercussions with my Fire Department I would not give them my name. I'm hoping that some other citizens out there will read the article and write in. Police & Fire are suppose to protect the people, not put them more at risk.


Rave
Ok, some good stuff now. Wednesday night was a rest night for both Annette and myself so we had a little treat. We went out to dinner at Red Lobster. It was soooo good. I pigged out, since I was suppose to be "carb loading" anyway. I don't think I've ate that much in a while. It was weird though, because with all the various training we have been doing, we really don't get any extra time during the week nights together so it was a pleasant treat. Resting today and tomorrow for the BDB 100 on Saturday.