ARKANSAS, USA — Arkansas State Police (ASP) urged Arkansans to "be smart" and "pull over" in a public service announcement released on Nov. 21. The announcement comes as the holiday travel season begins.
ASP advises drivers to not flee when they see blue lights in the rearview mirror because of the potential consequences.
Act 734 was recently written into Arkansas's code. According to the new amendment, a driver can be charged with a Class D Felony offense if they exceed the speed limit while running from law enforcement.
"Fleeing from law enforcement is a selfish act. And in Arkansas, it's a felony," Col. Hagar with ASP said in the statement.
This PSA comes on the heels of ASP being asked why they use PIT maneuvers on fleeing suspects. According to Hagar, the quickest way for troopers to end a pursuit going over 100 mph is by performing a PIT.
"We're not going just to hope all vehicles are passing on the shoulder," Hagar said to our Little Rock affiliate THV11 in October. "All the intersections going through that, they're not going to hit someone... not going to kill your family. They're not going to kill my family. We've seen that happen, unfortunately. That's not theory. We know what's going to happen... the longer we let that go on... We believe it's the best practice because it's the most immediate tactic to bring that pursuit to a conclusion."
However, some of ASP's pursuits have had fatal endings. In September, ASP performed a PIT maneuver on a suspect who did not pull over and was reportedly going over 120 mph, nearly colliding with another driver. The driver later died from injuries.
Also in September, a former state trooper performed a PIT maneuver on the wrong vehicle during a high-speed chase. The former trooper confused two different white four-door sedans.
"ASP Troopers will always put the safety of innocent civilians first," Hagar claimed in the PSA. "Our Troopers will not look the other way any more than they would during an active-shooter situation. We won't just follow someone and engage in a high-speed parade and hope that person is not going to hit an innocent bystander or innocent civilians on the road."
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