Why do people Run from the Cops?
By Pitgull
@Pitgull (1522)
United States
February 24, 2009 8:19pm CST
Do they think they can get away? I guess I never really understood why some people, when surrounded by officers with drawn weapons, will decide to run at or away from the cops.
If they chased you, they will not stop. An entire department is looking for you! If you run at them with a weapon, they will shoot you! And yet, some people seem to test this idea...thinking they are "above the law"?
Insight, suggestion, why are some people so dumb?
2 people like this
7 responses
@oyenkai (4394)
• Philippines
3 Mar 09
I guess it's just instinct to run as fast and as far away as you can from the thing that threatens your freedom. Here in the Philippines, running away usually helps :D our policemen are not as fit as their counterparts in other countries - they have big bellies because they standards are pretty low :D
Thanks for the response on my discussion!
@Pitgull (1522)
• United States
3 Mar 09
Nice to see you around here! I absolutely understand that...but why do people do things that jeopardize their freedom in the first place?
More often than not, I see guilty people running. When you are innocent, you are not usually afraid because you have no reason to fear....
But being in a different country, I cannot say everything is as just...
and our American system needs some reform as well....
@oyenkai (4394)
• Philippines
3 Mar 09
Some do the crazy things (against the law) because that's the means they find to make ends meet - at least that's how many of the criminals here claim that they had no choice. If there's no help for the poor and public education isn't really "free" and there's no way for uneducated to rear their child - then they resort to unlawful means to earn a living.
Many of the criminals locked up in prison here in the Philippines committed a crime of passion, or were uneducated, or are really just seriously mentally ill.
I guess those are the reasons why they "give up" their freedom - they were emotionally unstable at that time, or they were uneducated, or they're just plain crazy.
And I'd be straying off topic here: what really bothers is are the people who are NOT in jail even though they ought to be. Those "big guys" who always make it on the headline because they were caught with millions of Pesos (our currency), undeclared money. Those people who steal tax payers' money...
They're indirectly responsible of the many crimes that happen all over the country. Because if they'd just put our money in the right place then more people would be uneducated, more people would have jobs, less people would resort to murder or robbery or kidnapping - because then they'd know better or are essentially well off enough to not be forced by circumstances to go against the law.
@ronharold (555)
• Philippines
27 Feb 09
I think people running from the police thinks that he's better than the policemen. He can commit a crime because the crime scene is not secured so initially he already wins in that area but if he is caught in the act of doing it, he will run because he thinks that he can defeat them having defeated them ones. That's all. That's my insight.
@cobrateacher (8432)
• United States
25 Feb 09
For so long I was under the impression I was the only one who couldn't imagine why they think they can get away. Getting away is so very rare, but it doesn't really last. A neighbor is/was O.J. Simpson, so we see a lot of bad guys around here. Even O.J. tried to run at a crawl all those years ago! They can't get away!
@SomeCowgirl (32191)
• United States
25 Feb 09
I am not sure why people do run from the cops but I think that it's the adrenailine that builds with them as their fear of getting caught or getting trouble escalates. I think it's just pure instinct that makes them run, if your chased then you run, if you give chase, expect to be chased. I am not sure why one would run with a weapon but I think the same thing applies wherein instinct kicks in.
@Pitgull (1522)
• United States
25 Feb 09
Adrenaline and instinct make sense. I saw this underaged girl on TV the other day, and she was stopped by the cops. When they found out she was underaged and drunk, she ended up stealing the cop car!
The video was going and the first thing you heard her say, "Oh my God, I don't know what I am doing!" She was crying and driving.....I could understand how the cops scared her so much...and instinct would maybe be flight...
People....wow! :) Thanks for your response!
@syankee525 (6261)
• United States
25 Feb 09
because they are dumb. but i like watching them run well they got thier jeans around their butt and the jeans fall down and cause them to trip. lol
@spalladino (17891)
• United States
25 Feb 09
Many times it's the "flight or fight" instinct kicking in. The perp knows that he's outnumbered and can't win in a fight so the next response is to run in the hope that somehow he will be able to escape. As long as you are on the move, you are still in control and, as we all know, the very first thing the cops do when they take someone into custody is to take away every bit of their control. In other cases, perps run because they're morons. 
