We Don’t Need Another Becker Sisters’ Tragedy

In a recent column about a discussion I had had with an out-of-county police officer who was speeding down the Parkway here in Cape May County, I expressed to the officer that when officers do that, they undermine the trust and goodwill of the citizens they serve; the local police understand this and don’t do it.
Speeding, plus giving out “Get-Out-Of Jail-Free” cards and FOP and PBA insignia on family cars reveals an attitude of being privileged and above the people.
Of the responses which we received, one, in particular, stood out, stating, in effect, the police have a lot of work to do, and don’t have the time to go the speed limit, and aren’t bound by it, even when there is no emergency. I asked an associate to get the facts and to write her own opinion piece. You will find it below.
We Don’t Need Another Becker Sisters’ Tragedy
By TAYLOR HENRY
Teenage sisters Christina and Jacqueline Becker were driving to a convenience store to buy a gallon of milk one evening in Upper Township when a car sped through a stop sign and exploded into the side of their minivan.
Christina, a 19-year-old college student, and Jacqueline, a 17-year-old high school senior, were planning to spend that night in September 2006 at their grandparents’ house, but the sisters – the only children of a Court House mother – were instantly killed in the crash.
Robert Higbee, the driver, was charged with two counts of vehicular homicide, but at trial, the jury cleared him of any fault. Higbee was a state trooper who claimed to be chasing a speeder, and his car was a police cruiser with no lights or sirens on.
“This sends a message that it’s OK in the line of pursuit, for the public, that we deserve to die,” Maria Caiafa, the girls’ mother, said outside the courtroom after the trial.
State procedure allows an officer to speed without activating lights or sirens when “closing the gap” on a target, despite the danger it poses to other drivers and pedestrians.
County Prosecutor Robert Taylor told the Herald he thinks speeding without lights and sirens is “improper” and “dangerous.”
One 2008 Fairfax County, Virginia crash was strikingly similar to the Upper Township crash. Ashley McIntosh, 33, was at a red light near a shopping center one afternoon while Officer Amanda Perry was heading to apprehend a shoplifter. When the light turned green, McIntosh proceeded through the intersection and was T-boned (struck broadside) by Perry’s cruiser. Perry’s flashing lights were on, but the siren was not, even though rain and a daytime sky led to low visibility.
McIntosh died the next day, and Perry was later found not guilty of reckless driving. McIntosh’s mother launched a statewide campaign that, three years later, resulted in a law requiring emergency responders to use lights and sirens while entering an intersection against a red light.
It took a tragedy to create a needed law in Virginia. Even after police speeding without lights or sirens recently resulted in the deaths of a 10-year-old in Gloucester County in 2014 and a 25-year-old pedestrian in Ocean County in 2015, no statewide New Jersey law bans this practice.
In fact, police protested Higbee’s prosecution. David Jones, head of the New Jersey State Police union, said a guilty verdict would have a “chilling effect” on law officers who make mistakes, leading them to be more “skittish” and the public less safe.
In other words, the public is safer if police are allowed to make life-threatening errors. The troopers’ union were not the only ones to believe this.
This May, Publisher Art Hall was driving south on the Parkway when a N.J. Park Police car sped past him at a speed approaching 95 mph without lights or sirens activated.
In the spirit of not letting authority go unquestioned, Hall followed the speeding car through Cape May until it stopped in a secluded spot in Cape May Point, apparently not chasing another car. When the officer got out and asked Art why he followed him, Hall cited the distrust that grows between citizens and police when police break the rules they are supposed to enforce.
“Nobody is above the law,” Hall wrote in a May 31 column after the confrontation.
A Herald reader disagreed, and made that clear in a Spout-Off.
“[The officer] is not speeding because he is late for work or he is a thrill seeker, he is doing what we pay him to do,” the Spout-Off read. “Highway enforcement requires that the officer cover as much area as possible, looking for accidents, violators or people in distress.”
Intrinsically, police are paid to keep people safe. Speeding is often necessary for catching criminals or helping people in distress.
However, like Ashley’s Law in Virginia, New Jersey needs rules that allow police to do their job in a way that is safe for themselves and everyone else on the road.
As we approach the 11th anniversary of the Becker sisters’ deaths, New Jersey should pass a law requiring police to use flashing lights and sirens when speeding. It won’t stop crashes from happening altogether, but doing so may save lives.
Cape May County does not need another Becker sisters’ type tragedy.       
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From The Bible:  Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. Romans 12:3