Rachel Moran, professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law, recently spoke with KARE 11 about an increase in the number of people being charged with fleeing police, and the reasons behind this concerning trend.
From the story:
Rachel Moran, a former public defender and current associate professor who teaches criminal law and policing courses at the University of St. Thomas, has taken on many fleeing cases. She says all these theories could be true, and without more data it’s difficult to say for sure what’s causing these ‘dramatic’ increases in charges.
“I do wonder if part of it could be more anxiety of getting pulled over by police,” said Moran.
Moran says the public often thinks most cases involve dangerous pursuits, but she has defended several cases involving slow-speed pursuits, which usually last only a couple of blocks. Where the charge of fleeing could be debated.
“I don’t know, but there’s more and more discussion about people – and sometimes people of color – feel unsafe when they get pulled over. I wonder if that has perhaps led to more people making the probably not smart decision to just not pull over.”
