Ask the Chief

Recently, I assisted with a police pursuit coming toward Minneota on Hwy 68. Police pursuits can be very dangerous and we take great efforts to avoid endangering the public. Since this pursuit was coming toward Minneota, my role was to set up “Stop Sticks” outside of the community in hopes that we could deflate the tires and bring the pursuit to an end before entering a town.

As I was setting up the stop sticks, I turned on all of my emergency lights and positioned my squad car to block traffic on Hwy 68. Several cars did the right thing by pulling over to the side and stopping approximately ½ mile behind me, however one vehicle drove past the stopped vehicles and drove right up to my squad car.

You can imagine how frustrating this is when a person ignores my emergency warning lights and drives into a dangerous situation.

When I asked the driver what they thought they were doing, they told me they were going to Marshall. Needless to say I was not happy that this person put themselves and me in greater danger by failing to pay attention. Thankfully, the pursuit ended before reaching me.

My advice to everyone is that if you see a squad car stopped in the middle of the road with their emergency lights on, DON’T APPROACH unless instructed to do so. Just like fire trucks and ambulances, we are doing our jobs and there is a very good chance that the area we are in is unsafe.

It may seem like an inconvenience but it is for your own safety that I am blocking and standing in the roadway. Please respect our efforts to protect you and others.