Television police chase gets personal.
January 15, 2013 12:26 PM   Subscribe

Front row seat to a car chase in Inglewood, CA. [SLYT]

And if you don't believe it's real, watch this helicopter feed from NBCLA and you can see the guy that captured the video in his apartment at the 13:02 mark.
posted by phaedon (28 comments total) 8 users marked this as a favorite
 
Inglewood, always up to no good.
posted by Blue Meanie at 12:31 PM on January 15, 2013 [5 favorites]


Bor-ring
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 12:31 PM on January 15, 2013 [3 favorites]


A great moment in home video. Probably not the first time it happened (though no one previously had the nerve to YouTube it), and certainly not the last.
posted by oneswellfoop at 12:31 PM on January 15, 2013


Oh, you know. Just hanging around, videotaping the TV.
posted by dirtdirt at 12:31 PM on January 15, 2013 [18 favorites]


That was fantastic and unexpected.
posted by stbalbach at 12:33 PM on January 15, 2013


Breaking the fourth wall, 2.0.
posted by chavenet at 12:33 PM on January 15, 2013 [5 favorites]


Something tells me, (considering that the TV announcer implies that the driver is fleeing in circles,) that this guy had a pretty good hunch that that was going to happen. Ergo, the camera.
posted by fifthrider at 12:37 PM on January 15, 2013


When the camera moved from the TV to the window it reminded me of when Rex Kramer steps out of the mirror in Airplane!
posted by bondcliff at 12:38 PM on January 15, 2013 [1 favorite]


Oh, you know. Just hanging around, videotaping the TV.

I thought that too, but:

1. People record crazy shit. Like 100% of their waking life
2. It's of interest, a car chase in your neighborhood. I could see someone wanting a copy of that.
3. While recording on what appears to be a phone is just about the worst way to do it, it is also very simple. Especially if you plan to send it to others.
posted by 2bucksplus at 12:39 PM on January 15, 2013


Hos inter fremitus novosque luxus Spectandi levis effugit voluptas.
posted by Ice Cream Socialist at 12:44 PM on January 15, 2013 [1 favorite]


(considering that the TV announcer implies that the driver is fleeing in circles,)

Why wouldn't they just barricade the route instead of chasing the car around in circles?
posted by Sys Rq at 12:44 PM on January 15, 2013


because yakety sax, that's why.
posted by elizardbits at 12:48 PM on January 15, 2013 [29 favorites]


Why wouldn't they just barricade the route instead of chasing the car around in circles?

No idea, but they talk about the pattern of speeding up and slowing down he uses at lights, then they say something to the effect of "now he's heading back toward LAX again..." Most likely, even if he wasn't following precisely the same route, there was enough information there for our cameraman to decide that there was a good chance he might catch something interesting.
posted by fifthrider at 12:52 PM on January 15, 2013


Also the idea in a police chase is to not forcibly intervene until there is absolutely no other option, and a barricade would qualify as forcible intervention. Cops want chases to end because the bad guy chooses to end it, not because the bad guy is forced to end it.
posted by incessant at 12:52 PM on January 15, 2013


Live-TV meets Live-Life.
posted by homodigitalis at 12:56 PM on January 15, 2013


Also the idea in a police chase is to not forcibly intervene until there is absolutely no other option, and a barricade would qualify as forcible intervention.

Isn't the chase itself also forcible intervention?
posted by Sys Rq at 1:08 PM on January 15, 2013


because yakety sax, that's why.

elizardbits, this is just to inform you that I will be stealing that line to justify all my bad decisions.
posted by compartment at 1:11 PM on January 15, 2013 [1 favorite]


Did not see that coming. Holy shit is right.
posted by OHenryPacey at 1:12 PM on January 15, 2013 [1 favorite]


Anyone just the teeniest bit disappointed that they didn't drive right into the living room?
posted by orme at 1:14 PM on January 15, 2013 [17 favorites]


In the helicopter-only footage linked to below the fold you can see the youtube-er's feet as he runs from one window to the next. Pretty cool.
posted by notsnot at 1:16 PM on January 15, 2013 [2 favorites]


I was looking really close for the elephant or giraffe driving, and came away disappointed.
posted by xedrik at 1:38 PM on January 15, 2013 [1 favorite]


Anyone just the teeniest bit disappointed that they didn't drive right into the living room?

*sheepishly raised hand*

I totally thought that was going to happen.
posted by linux at 2:14 PM on January 15, 2013 [6 favorites]


incessant writes "Also the idea in a police chase is to not forcibly intervene until there is absolutely no other option"

Why would that be? It seems like the likelyhood of the chase coming to an end by the chasee crashing into a bus full of nuns or something increases the longer the chase goes on.

I would have figured cops would want to spike belt chasees or something at their first opportunity.
posted by Mitheral at 2:16 PM on January 15, 2013


The location is a Value Inn Worldwide. The reflection of a bellhop cart in the window would confirm it was shot from inside a hotel. That may have been a visitor who was duly impressed by LA culture.

The presence of the guy in the red, white, and black jacket standing outside the second window is another point of reference in both videos.
posted by rlk at 2:59 PM on January 15, 2013


Now for some reason I have the Police Squad! music stuck in my head.
posted by azpenguin at 3:11 PM on January 15, 2013 [1 favorite]


"...the Los Angeles Police Department has compiled an impressive record of controlling such chases in recent years. Other departments would be wise to emulate its policies, and the LAPD should be cautious about upending its own work in this area.

Under the LAPD's rules for chasing suspects, officers are given some discretion and allowed to rely on their judgment, but they are directed to do so within thoughtful boundaries. In initiating or continuing a pursuit, officers are expected to consider the potential risk to the public, along with such factors as the speed of the chase compared with surrounding traffic, the weather and the seriousness of the offense for which the suspect is wanted.

Moreover, chases are restricted to a single, primary car with lights and sirens activated, along with a backup or secondary car. " -- 2009

Note: This appears to be Inglewood PD, not LAPD.

As to the reasons for such caution, two recent datapoints.
posted by dhartung at 4:40 PM on January 15, 2013


The location is a Value Inn Worldwide. The reflection of a bellhop cart in the window would confirm it was shot from inside a hotel. That may have been a visitor who was duly impressed by LA culture.

The first time I visited LA to see friends who had moved up here to Portland, then back down there, what you're suggesting happened to me. Brande picked me up at LAX and drove me to her apartment in Hollywood. She had to go to work to take care of something and would be right back. I flip on the tv and holy shit, there is a high speed chase on the news. It seemed fake, like it was being done for me.

Later that night my life was threatened in front of a lot of people by a make-up shoplifting, one legged man in a Rite-Aid or Walgreens. We had been in the same aisle briefly. I was standing by the doors waiting for my friends. When he was getting kicked out I think he thought I told on him. He told me he was gonna stab me. He walked away down the middle of Sunset.
posted by rainperimeter at 9:35 PM on January 15, 2013


Isn't the chase itself also forcible intervention?

Well, perhaps we're just disagreeing on what "forcible intervention" qualifies as -- but the police feel that following but not physically engaging with the car in pursuit doesn't qualify as forcible intervention. Some sample "forcible interventions" include spike strips, PIT maneuvers, and barricades, which are difficult to set up and easy to defeat, especially in an area with lots of streets.

LAPD has found that physical intervention tends to end badly, and a full siren chase doesn't.
posted by incessant at 7:34 PM on January 18, 2013


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