Shawano County Sheriff's Department cruiser. Image courtesy: WAOW TV
SHAWANO, WI (WSAU-WAOW) – Shawano County authorities are seeing an increase in the number of high speed chases.
“Throughout the first quarter of 2022 we’re already at 22 pursuits at least according to our files,” said Detective Brad Schultz with the Shawano County Sheriff’s Department. “That’s already a third of what we had the three years prior to that.”
While he’s not sure why the numbers keep climbing, he says it’s a concern because anything involving a vehicle can be dangerous not only for the public, but for the officers as well. “A lot of pursuits do end in crashes… a decent percentage of them,” Schultz said.
He says there’s usually a cause that leads to high speed chases, such as an active warrant or drugs, but there’s no real way to predict when one will happen. “Our officers are empowered to make that decision for themselves,” Schultz said. “At any time they can terminate that pursuit if they feel it’s too dangerous for themselves and the public.”
Even so, Schultz has a warning for anyone who thinks they can race a police officer. “Even if you outrun one of our squads, we all have radios. It’s very hard to outrun a Motorola.”
If you’re driving and you see a chase happening, Schultz says you should pull over and let it pass through.
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