Hodgenville, Kentucky — A high-speed vehicle pursuit in Green County, Kentucky ended perhaps unlike any other for police officers—and a terrified suspect. After a person jumped in a vehicle apparently fleeing a domestic situation. Unsure of the unfolding situation, officers pursued the vehicle and the driver, who failed to stop for police.
After reaching speeds over 90 mph, the vehicle pulled into a store parking lot, seemingly to avoid a rolling roadblock maneuver that police were about to deploy. Hodgenville Police officers approached the vehicle guns drawn—but the situation then took an unexpected turn.
According to WDRB, Hodgenville Police Chief James Richardson approached the driver-side door, he immediately recognized the driver was terrified:
“As I come up to the driver’s side door, (another officer) said he had cover, so I went ahead and made contact with the driver and got her to open the door… She had her hands up. She was shaking like a leaf. It was obvious she was scared to death. The look on her face was absolute sheer terror.”
WDRB News
Protecting & Caring for Others…
It was then that Chief Richardson demonstrated the kindness, the compassion, and the concern for others that is part of the heart and soul of law enforcement officers everywhere. Chief Richardson holstered his gun as the woman was shaking and sobbing.
Unexpectedly, Chief Richardson then hugged the crying woman, who was crying and apologizing profusely.
Soon afterward, the woman began to calm down explaining how “she didn’t know what she was doing,” according to Chief Richardson.
Chief Richardson also explained how this was not a typical outcome of any police pursuit he’s been involved in, or ever heard about. As Chief Richardson explained, pursuits do not typically end in hugs: “We don’t train for that. It’s never happened.”
Police Training: Recognizing Signs of Danger—and Lack of Danger
Despite all the mainstream news and social media nonsense to the contrary, police officers train to look for even the slightest signs of threats—some that most people would hardly recognize in a split-second, dangerous situations. And at the same time, law enforcement officers train for signs that indicate the lack of threats and dangers—something that is rarely mentioned nowadays.
As Chief Richardson explained:
“It was obvious that she was scared. Yeah, we’ve got a job to do, but she didn’t pose a threat. The people we deal with, they’re usually in a bad situation, and they’ve made mistakes. But we have to treat everybody with compassion, and we don’t know their situation. We don’t need to be the judge and jury.”
WDRB.com
Watch the video of the pursuit—and compassionate endinge—here.
