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THE POLKA AE/cDc 806/794-4362 pwrd:KILL
-+- Exilic Xyth's Guide to 1st level Police Evasion -+-
11/10/90
Preface:
In today's world there are many reasons to avoid the long arm of the
law. This holds true for some individuals (myself included) more than
others. This file will serve as a correction for many of the floating
misconceptions abound regarding the legality and logistics of police
persuit and evasion. When reading this file regard it as a ballast, a
tool to make the odds of a persuit weigh in your favor, not as guide
to procedure. As a side note, I (the author) do not encourage flight
from law enforcement. Nor do I encourage obstruction of justice as a
rule or a practice. It is not my intent to premote resisting arrest
by duely appointed law enforcement officals or evading the consequences
of crimes major or minor.
I - Vehicular Persuit.
A: Sould I initiate a persuit?
The movies are the worst source of misconceptions and misgivings regard-
ing car to car persuit. In any given cop/criminal plot there is without
a doubt, a car chase. The important thing to remember is that the
drivers of said cars are trained professionals who have only as few
chances to start all over again as miles of film the producer has pur-
chased Rember also the the entire chase scene is planned. Of interest
here is the fact that in any given car chase scene there are anywhere
from 4 to 5 sets of rubber skid marks on the path before the cars roar
by. Obviously those are the 4 to 5 takes before the one you are watch-
ing where one driver or the other fucked up. You have no such luxurys.
In the event you crash, there is no car depot from which you obtain
another car and start over; hence the margin for error is almost nil.
Given such circumstances, the first question you must ask yourself is
"Is it worth it for me to run?" "Will the consequences behind my
capture now be vicious enough for me to flee?" It comes quickly to
light, that unless there are some outstanding reasons, persuit is the
unfavorable choice. Reasons that I might justify a persuit with are as
follows:
1. Driving a stolen car with little or no ambiguity to ownership.
Stiff sentences await car theives, if there is little or no chance that
you will get away with bullshitting the officer who stops you, take off.
2. Car contains blatently visable and unambigious stolen property.
30 hot VCR's in the back seat? Along with the tools you stole em with?
Run.
3. Long criminal record with various unserved warrents.
Unless the warrents are for traffic violations, it's time to go.
Ok, here it is, the moment of truth. The red and blue lights are be-
hind you and it's clear that the cop wants YOU. Always evaluate the
situation, how much does the officer know about me, what am I being
stopped for? Is there reason for the officer to be stopping me?
If you have be involved in illicit activites and find yourself being
stopped by a car for little or no reason, assume the worst. Assume
the officer knows something about what you have done and will attempt
to score an arrest. Likewise if you are stopped by a 2 man car, assume
that this is with the intent of taking you prisoner, it is unlikely that
a 2 man car will stop for traffic violations unless said violations are
very blatent. Two man cars are rarely used for traffic patrols.
Likewise, look for signs that the officer knows little or nothing about
you. If you feel you might have a decent chance of bullshitting the cop,
or if he/she looks like a dense sort, go ahead and pull over. Getting
the cop out of his/her car while you are still in yours is a huge
tactical advantage. If you allow yourself to be stopped, watch your
advarsary carefully. How does he or she approach your car? Casually?
Is the officer tidying up his or her uniform? Does the officer close
the car door after exiting? All these are indications that you are
not considered a major threat. If the officer moves to stop his car in
front of yours, you are in for it, it is unlikely that this maneuver
would be attempted if you were not a suspect.
Before you stop, examine the surroundings, plan a path, which direction
will you go? Where will your first turn be? Will you be able to make
the turn at high speed? Are there any other officers around? Is the
area highly populated?
When you stop do so cautiously, put yourself in a position to flee, but
not obviously. Perhaps stop before a U-Turn area, or near a highway
exit. When you stop do so slowly. Put your turn signal on, slow down
gradually, give yourself the best chance and the most time to take in
your surroundings. Above all be calm.
Do not shut your engine off, depending on the car you are driving, it is
likely he/she will not even notice. Do not shift your car into park,
instead elect for neutral, this will make your initial flight easier to
begin. Do not however, stand on the brake, the brakelights will remind
the officer that you are stepping on a peddle and your feet are in pos-
ition. Try putting on your hazards to offset this effect if you're on a
hill. Roll your window down halfway, don't give the officer the opp-
ortunity to grab you. If the officer passes the unconcerned about you
test, go ahead and let him or her approach the car.
Before giving your license, ask what it was that you did. Even better
ask what it was you did while "looking" for your license. Do your best
to obtain some explanation. Most cops will not bother with the license
formality if you are a major suspect so take a request for your license
as a good sign.
At this point if you have any outstanding warrents, you must devise some
method of avoiding the surrender of your license. It is wise to memorize
the statistics of an aquantence who looks something like you at this
point. If you have done so you may claim you lost your license and pose
as said aquantence. "You" will be called in, checked for warrents and
license validity and then issued a "Failure to produce" ticket. Most of
the time if you produce no wallet at all it is more effective. "I must
have left it in my other jeans, DAMN!" Depending on the cop, you may be
asked to accompany him to his car where he can fill out everything on
you. This is one of the rare times that being asked to leave the car is
a good sign, take all other "please step out of the car" threats as just
that, threats. If you do not have some alternate means of identification
or have not memorized a "friends" statistics, it is time to flee. Do
not assume that the outstanding warrent will not appear over the radio,
chances are, it will. No offense, but on the whole I have noticed that
police women have something to prove. Give them a little more leeway.
Call it the bitch factor. They tend to be a bit more aggressive, esp-
ecially if you're male.
Should I flee?
When you make this decision, you must consider the tatically best time
to begin to flee.
Fleeing from roadside stop:
If you are pulled over and decide that you're in for it, wait till the
cop on foot gets about to your rear bumper and then take off. That
position is perfect because it puts the officer too far to get a good
facial description and to near to get back to the squad quickly.
Remember that before you were pulled over a brief but revealing desc-
ription of your car was relayed to dispatch and depending on the dis-
patch system your description might have been boardcast over the entire
district. (Although in Illinois this is rare.) Here are some actual
examples of "traffic call-in's" (Note: These calls are from the Mass.
state police turnpike patrol (159.030 MHz)
<Sorry if any of you are in this>
Unit >4405> "4405"
Dispatch> "4405 go"
Unit>4405> "4405,
As there is a description of you, it is in your best interest to flee
the immediate district as soon as possible. Your plate is also on
record via the dispatchers terminal so the car you are driving is now
hot. The dispatcher will run the plate as the persuit goes and locate
the owners address, if you or someone you live with is the owner, don't
even bother going home. Likewise it is in you best interest to ditch
the car, or at least the plates quickly, remember that a more accurate
description will be given the moment you flee, so new plates may not be
entirely effective.
Fleeing before a roadside stop:
If you own the car, or it can be easily traced to you and it is very
likely that you will be arrested if you are stopped, you might elect to
flee before being stopped. The main idea here is to prevent iden-
tification of the car via license plate. Begin flight the moment you
discover you are being chased, make numerous turns to prevent exposing
your plate. Try to maintain a safe distance as well.
Fleeing from the scene of a crime.
If you are performing a "get - away" assume that the entire description
of the car and it's occupants is well known. Change clothes immediately
or as soon as possible and try your best to change the appearence of the
car. (Washing or dirtying will help some.) The most important factor
here is that you flee the immediate district first where the most active
search will be. When you leave the scene do so with moderation. Select
a speed that blends subility with good ground covering speed. Take
side streets until you are removed from the immediate scene. Remember
that most cars will be heading to the scene first. As the nature of the
crime is revealed the search will broaden.
B: Ok, I'm running, NOW WHAT?
The police in the area always have the advantage. They are armed with
trained officers and most importantly, radios. Your advantage, depend-
ng on how vicious you are, is that police officers will take the
public's safety into consideration more than you might.
A quote from the Illinois State Trooper Training Manual :
"When you decide to pursue a fleeing adversary, try to follow the same
route as your subject. Let HIM discover the hidden dangers so you can
avoid them. Your goal should be to stay in control and allow your
adversary to identify the pitfalls in the best possible way - for you"
Knowing this, one must strive to make that path which the officer may
follow as difficult to traverse as possible. Use other motorists.
If that grandma next to you looks skidish, Smack her car a few times,
even just swerve in front of her. Pass on the right, don't make it
overly easy to follow you. On top of which, an officer will be more
inclined to stop pursuing if you leave an accident behind you and
generally make it clear that the pursuit is a danger of public safety.
Police in general drive "Pursuit Package" cars which are built to handle
the pitfalls of pursuit. Anti sway bars and "Curb Jumpers" are part
of the standard setup. The typical car will jump the highest curbs at
speed with little difficulty.
Don't bother driving in a straight line at 130 - 140 trying to put some
distance between you and them, because unless you have a car that will
do 150 - 160 you won't.
The Illinois State Police are given the statistic that 90% of all
drivers will take a Right, left, left pattern when being followed, so
DON'T.
Get off the highway as soon as you can, any lengthly highway chase will
be a lost cause for you. It makes your whereabouts very obvious and
your path easy to intercept.
Forget the state line. Hot pursuit laws allow any officer to cross any
district lines as long as you are visable and fleeing.
Be unpredictable, more than anything else, try to change your direction
frequently, it's very difficult for a cop to keep radioing in with one
hand and follow you with the other. Frequent U-Turns are valuable.
+------+
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+------+luxuries u pursuit thiefs blatantly visible un ambiguous warrants
warrants to pull over activities blatant tactical adversary On the
other hand, i warrants acquaintance acquaintance warrants warrant
B: If I flee, when stactically Remember broadcast Mhz interest u don't
even bother going home. ,. Rappearance.....
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|subtlety C
C: KNOW YOUR ENEMY!
Is it a state trooper following you?
If so, is it a pursuit vehicle?
Perhaps it's a local cop?
As a general rule, the stateies will be the ones to watch, they are
usually better trained in pursuits. Chicago police are all trained in
driving, but rarely very well. This training takes the form of a series
of skid control exercises done on some old air strip somewhere.
Suburban cops will usually be the least trained.
""Remember this, don't try to out preform the machine, out preform the driver.
u won't. In training t when being followed, so DON'T.lengthy nd your
path easy to intercept. you are visible and fleeing. Understand that
most police will assume you to be a non-intellgent punk who stole the
car. Even if you did, you must prove them wrong, but not until it
suits you.
Mentally change your direction as well, become passive then active
again in your flight. Allow no second guessing. Frequent U-Turns are
valuable. Use turn signals to indicate your turns and lane changes, it
will naturally be assumed that you are stupid, and signaling out of
habit. Surprise surprise when you pull a harsh left with no signal (or
better yet, a right signal) that the officer has been depending on for
knee jerk reactions. Use your normal brakes until a rather harsh turn
then use the parking brake (Which shouldn't light the brake lights) Be
careful using the parking brakes though, they may only be attached to
the rear wheels which when applied harshly, will cause the rear wheels
to lock and negate traction causing the rear end of the car to slide
out of line <Disaster> Remember to hold down the brake release
button/handle however. (Some more advanced drivers may experiment with
locking the rear wheels to pull harder U-Turns)... try this in a vacant
(Read very large and very empty) lot.
Night pursuits are the most desirable for you. Being the fleeing
subject, the darkness will work only in your favor. Illinois troopers
are trained to memorize and follow tail lights (it is my guess that
this is common police practice) Drive until you feel that you might
meld into the surroundings and go dark. If you have rearward fog
lights, or can change the appearance of your rear lights in any manner
while driving, wait till your out of sight briefly, and do so. For a
touch of surprise (surprise is the take home word here) take a left,
kill the lights, THEN U-Turn before the trooper rounds the corner.
Make all your night maneuvers when you're just out of sight, in front
of a car, or around a corner, make it that much more difficult to
reacquire you visually.
As a general rule put more than one element in your maneuvers, just
turning left is not quite as effective as turning left and U-Turning
followed by a quick right. Try the "TOP GUN" turn. Switch lanes and
slam the brakes. With luck he'll zoom by. <Best to try this when the
cop is rather close> Following this, pull a hard right. Take
advantage of being out of sight.
D: Foreign Objects
You may find that your driving alone is not enough. It's time to
resort to foreign objects. Oil is useful, but not to the extent that
movies would have you believe. Through my own trials I've found that
it takes at least 4 quarts of motor oil well spread out to do much
good. The only real way to deploy this amount is by filling a large
glass jug with oil and throwing it forcibly on the ground to break
the glass and disperse the oil. It is best to drop the oil on the
halfway point of a curve where the most lateral stress will be on the
cars tires. With luck the lack of traction will leave the cop sliding
at a tangent to the turn, and with more luck, hard enough into the
curb sideways to pull the tire from the hub.
A little creativity will give you several useful tire puncturing
devices. A two by four with numerous nails might suffice, again
deployment timing is the major factor in this success.
Fire extinguishers will completely or partially impair vision depending
on the speed you are traveling. Opt for the dry chemical sort here,
they coat the windshields and make obscure vision quite well.
(Note: These are available at little or no cost (read free) at your
local hotel. Walk in with a bag, walk out with a bag and an
extinguisher.) Point the hose up and out the window so the fall to
earth effect can work on your side. Again, deploy your "screen" at a
time where it will serve you will, take advantage of the screen to
maneuver.
E: When all else fails: The crash.
If you have a truly gifted follower who refuses to give up, try the
crash. If you appear out of control, the officer is going to back off
to avoid hitting you. (Try this without the crash first) Crash the
car in a manner to block your escape route on foot to the cop. Roll
down the windows before crashing to prevent the stick-em door blues.
Do you best to crash on the right side of the car, unless you have a
passenger there, to prevent injury and to block the road laterally.
Alternately, crash through something that the cop would never consider
following you through. If the car is that disposable and you are that
desperate, hit the cop a few times as well. Try to hit his wheels, you
might just get lucky after all.
F: The big picture.
The big picture is moderating your methods with your level of "escape
desire" and level of "escape ability". Keep in control of the
situation at all times and drive clever rather than fast. I would
personally advise buying a police scanner if you are ever counting on
being chased, they are invaluable tools to keep you one step ahead of
the game. Moreover, they will give you an idea in the long run of
how much "THEY" know about you, and when to give up. Remember above
all that 9 out of 10 pursuits end in an arrest. Know when to run,
and when not to. The ideal pursuits last less than a minute, and
leaves the officer with little or no idea what you were driving/look
like. (Perfect example, the 100+ Mph blown night time speed trap.)
Encourage the short pursuit as the long one will likely be your
downfall. Remember that law enforcement officials are there for your
protection, and their actions are for the common good. Injury to
officers and or innocent persons is the least desirable outcome of
any activity. Evading police custody or questioning is illegal and
an obstruction of justice. The author cannot be responsible for
injuries or miscomings emerging from improper use of this file.
(Read disclaimer B.S.)
+------+
| Crap |>Exilic Xyth
+------+
traffic stop, mile marker 45, red Toyota New York plates 4522"
Dispatch> "$VQ+:4:;:|;;;;%;&;,;3;8;M;R;q;z;.;.;.;+;.;.<
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..............................."Received"
Later that night:
Unit >4405 Again> "4405"
Dispatch> "4405"
Unit >4405 Again> "4405 traffic. Southbound Copley exit, brown
suburban Mass. plates" Dispatch> "Received 4405"
Note that unit 4405 is inconsistent. Sometimes plate numbers given,
sometimes not. Too much coffee perhaps? Well who's to tell the point
is that it's likely that there is at least a BASIC description made
BEFORE each stop. (Likely this is to provide rescue if the unit
doesn't respond or request plate / license info in a few minutes) The
dispatcher will even occasionally check back with a traffic to assure
himself the unit is ok, and not bleeding his life into the pavement.
Or even to hurry him up to another call or keep him from calling a
traffic to sleep.
(Example here, again, quoted from 159.030)
Dispatch> "4405, how you doin' with that traffic?"
(Pause)
Unit >4405> "4405, be clear in a minute."
Dispatch> "Very well sir."
As there is likely a probably J+@....:4K.W+'(?|W.)
<errors in file, parts missing>
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