"When officers went to investigate, there was a physical altercation between police and 26-year-old Gerardo Diego Ayala that ended with a fatal officer-involved shooting."

The cops killed one of the suspects then pursued the rest, then a pedestrian died in the chase. But the fricken media did a great job phrasing things so the cops seemed justified, woo-hoo.

See:

http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/2013/05/santa_ana_pede...

(taken from further on this page, belongs further up btw)

I think the difficulty in handling a situation like that in any way other than immediate armed confrontation must be immense. If somebody tasked me with "handling" a gang member I'm pretty sure I'd want a gun, and I'd want absolutely no restrictions or post-event questioning on its use. Obviously I'm not involved in professional law enforcement in LA but even with training I can imagine it to be an incredibly difficult situation.

I think that the hard thinking to be done should be directed primarily at the underlying issues that result in (and support) organized street crime.

Ironically, the reason there's very few chases is that punishments are not severe for crimes. If you are certain that you'll get federal prison in USA for almost any crime, it makes sense to risk it and try to get away.

It seems you can find them all you want, but eventually you're going to have to take them in and many times the bad guys just won't want to go.

http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Felony-Murder+...

Driving evasively seems like a very good way to attract the attention of other officers who might not recognize the suspects' car. Once the cruiser is out of sight, the suspects' best bet would be to "act casual." If the drone can see the suspects then it doesn't matter how they drive, and if it can't see them then driving like a maniac only makes it easier to be found.

I am curious what the average response time is for a police helicopter though.