We have police chases in Britain just like in America and we also show them on police chase TV shows (though I've never seen a big chase being broadcast live like you sometimes get on American TV). Some of our own traffic police TV shows are more like documentaries rather than sheer sensationalist entertainment shows like in America, there is no one like Sheriff John Bunnell in Britain. Some of the chase shows shown on our TV are compilations of chases from America, Britain and other countries, and we still have "The World's Wildest Police Videos" and other US chase shows on our channels.

Although the driving techniques our police use may differ, unlike American police we don't seem to try to ram them or use the PIT manouver. American cops use big bulky Crown Vics with bars on the front, our cars aren't like that, we use Volvos, BMWs and Omegas for pursuit, which are smaller and probably cost more to repair (they don't have that "body on frame" construction). And our police never try to shoot out tyres (to be honest that sounds pretty dangerous, only worth doing in extremely desperate situations).

I've seen any chases happen in Britain that are quite as dramatic as that tank chase or the OJ Simpsons chase or those times people have stolen virtually unstoppable buses.

Are you sure? Look at this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6e16mLYNls

And yes I know it's fake.

He's a bit of a jackass isn't he? He reminds me of that mean Captain Harris from the Police Academy movies. He talks like he's seen far too many John Wayne movies. And he's probably a big Republican. THIS DRIVER JUST-BOUGHT-A-ONE-WAY-TICKET......... TO JAIL!!

The real John Burnell or fake John Burnell in that video I posted?

What do you think? Sorry, but I didn't even bother watching of all that video, that "actor" was nothing like him.

You're spot on. If I think about it, I wonder if some of these American shows like COPS and World's Wildest Police Chases are only turning crime into entertainment. Of course they try to discourage viewers from breaking the law, that's their official line, but their whole approach is so sensationalist that it may even end up having the opposite effect with some people. Nevertheless these shows are entertaining. People will always be interested in dramatic real life events, in Britain we still make shows that are about crime and war and other dangerous things, but somehow we usually seem to take a more balanced documentary approach about it. One program we have covers traffic police work in different parts of Britain but each episode is more like a day in the life of traffic cops, showing their work in more detail (police work isn't all action), whereas these other shows only show the exciting car chases.

I think the way the American media handles news and crime leaves a lot to be desired (not to mention its often puritannical treatment of swearing, sex and violence in entertainment), in Bowling for Columbine Michael Moore heavily criticizes the American media, saying it tries to instill fear in the public.

This is not something that concerns me too deeply, but it is a feeling I have.

Definitely, I do agree that the media here does like to show the more violent images from the news stories. Here in the Los Angeles area, we had another high-speed police chase yesterday that was televised live by two channels on the 10 o'clock news. It was dangerous, it was at high speeds, but it was a good one. And you know what, that's the honest truth. I know that's how a lot of the viewers felt. The guy cut across medians, pushed his Toyota 4x4 to escape the freeway through the plants/grass on the side, drove on the wrong side of the road, and a highway patrol unit was on his tail for a good part of the chase. I mean, really on his tail, literally bumper-to-bumper. If you remember, wrenchhead was talking about using other methods to pursue suspects during a high-speed chase. In this case, after the pursuit got too dangerous, ground units were called off and only the helicopters pursued him. But that didn't stop the guy, he still drove like a maniac. So the highway patrol had to be called in to clear the freeways and warn the drivers of his prescence. Other methods don't always work.

And you want to know why it started?

The guy was pulled over for speeding. Yup, that's it, for speeding. So at this point, many of you might argue if such a dangerous pursuit was warranted for a guy who was just wanted for speeding. Well, here's my answer. Do you think that your average joe will try to outrun the cops for something like that? Only if he has something to hide.

This guy in the Toyota was throwing "baggies" of an unspecified drug out the window during the pursuit, so there you go.

Just thought I'd share this.

P.S. Sheriff John Bunnell is considered a joke by many in the law enforcement community. He came off as an ass when he was shown on COPS during 1989/1990 and he was interim sheriff for a few months. He was never elected.

I always suspected Bunnell was little more than a blowhard TV personality. What's an "interim Sheriff" exactly? How is that different from the usual Sheriff (the head of a regional Sheriff's Office I understand?) Was the guy in the Toyota a drug dealer?

It means that he was appointed the temporary sheriff of Multnomah County, Oregon after the previous sheriff retired before his term ended. So John Bunnell was appointed the "temporary" sheriff to finish out his term. He served in that capacity from November 30, 1994 up till May of 1995.

As for the guy in the Toyota, I have no idea if he was a drug dealer. Once a chase is over, the local media usually doesn't report anything more on the story. All that really matters is the chase itself, unless someone else gets injured or killed.

And a little trivia: John Bunnell appeared as a police officer in "Bad Santa." It was quite funny, actually.

Thanks! So is it really right for him to still call himself Sheriff John Bunnell?

Well, he was Sheriff so the title wouldn't be incorrect to use. But if you've noticed, whenever he came out on World's Wildest Police Vidoes, it always said (Retired) next to his name. But it's become a "stage name" of sorts, at least in my opinion.

Yes, I think it has. I guess it would be like Rudolph Giuliani still calling himself "Mayor Giuliani" when he isn't Mayor of NYC anymore, someone else has taken his place, so I don't think he uses this title now. Of course Giuliani's a far more influential figure than Bunnell.

Yeah, it's somewhat similar. Both are capitalizing off of a brief period of fame that they had in the past.

Well Giuliani was Mayor for nearly 8 years, Bunnel wasn't even Sheriff for 8 months. And I'm not sure he still calls himself Mayor Giuliani, does he?

Let's face it: Guliani is only well-known because of September 11th. If those attacks had never happened, he wouldn't be running for president. All of his national/international fame is based on those days only. And no, he doesn't still call himself that, but he is widely regarded as "America's Mayor."

Good point, I hadn't realised that.

Also, do you think it's true that people in law enforcement and the military resent those who "sell out" and become celebrities. I've heard people in the SAS don't like Andy McNab because he sold his story (he wrote the bestseller Bravo Two Zero about his POW experience in the first Gulf War). There was also another guy was a Gulf War POW, an RAF navigator called John Nichol who would appear on news programs and stuff. When I was in the Air Cadets (or Air Traning Corps) I once went to RAF Brize Norton, a large airbase in England, and I was in this big lounge with lots of RAF personnel watching the TV, then Nichol (I think it was him) came on and a few people shouted "Wanker!"

That all goes from individual to individual. I think that if the people who do this have good intentions and don't take much monetary compensation, then they're respect remains intact. But if the do it for the money and if they produce a very one-sided story, then that's where the resentment comes in.

It's possible to give the world your story in an honorable way (maybe Marianne Pearl is an example), but the thing about John Nichol is now he does After Dinner speeches (earning thousands for each one) and has gotten into TV presenting and making programs, to me that's selling out. And Nick Leeson, who was responsible for the ruin of a major financial institution and the loss of many jobs, has gone into after dinner speaking and as well as the book about his role in the Barings Bank disaster (which became a film starring Ewan McGregor) he's also co-written a book about stress. And let's not forget James Hewitt, what a turd he is.

Some of these famous "after dinner speakers" are not people I'd invite to dinner.

Yeah, definitely. Guys like that really lose a lot of respect once they do something like that. They forget where they came from and usually don't give much credit to their comrades.

And shows like that do feature chases from your country, as well as others. Not just from the USA. And yes, they tend to be exploitive. I remember an episode where some guy stole a U-Haul truck. The thing was a Ford Econoline E-350 cutaway van, but Bunnell's narration was like "The driver thinks he's tough with his big rig..."

BIG RIG!?! If that's a "big rig," then my P.O.S. Toyota Corolla is a god-damn LUXURY LIMOUSINE!!


But getting back to the subject, I haven't really seen that many in my life that I recall. When I was a kid on the school bus, I saw two cars trying to run each other off the road, and Suffolk County PD was chasing them. Another time, I saw eight SCPD cars pulling one car thief over across the street from my house.