This evening, sitting around, talking with friends, we witnessed a high speed pursuit through their neighborhood. Three (as in three!) police cars chasing an SUV through a child-populated neighborhood with extremely narrow streets. Narrow enough that, with cars parked on either side, only one vehicle can pass at a time.

Now, luckily no one was hurt (at least within the neighborhood...can't speak to the terminus of the pursuit), nor was any property damaged (ibid). And though I cannot speak to the cause of the pursuit, I can speak to this: I cannot conceive of a situation where it is considered advisable, or in any way safe, that three patrol cars are necessary to give chase through a residential area, especially when a major thoroughfare, one block away, was the only exit route.

When my friend called the non-emergency police line, to give voice to her concerns over what we rightly saw as dangerous, reckless behavior on the part of law enforcement, those concerns were dismissed. As if she, or any of us for that matter, had no reason or right to question the behavior of public servants. To quote, "That's not my problem", followed by a dial tone.

How disgraceful, that this behavior on the part of those sworn to protect and serve the citizenry would occur, let alone that anyone would ever consider it tolerable.

It is we, the citizens, that grant authority to law enforcement, and as such we must always remember that it is our responsibility to hold them accountable.