Revoking the "No chase" policy is not a viable remedy to the street racing challenges in Dallas. Instead, it may worsen the situation by endangering more lives.

Street racing has been a growing problem in Dallas for many years. It involves illegal drag races between two or more vehicles on stretches of public roads. The vehicles are often modified to make them faster. Some racers do it to showcase their cars and driving powers. Dallas Police Department data shows that the Southwest Patrol Street Racing Task Force responded to 48 racing calls, made 26 arrests, and issued 101 tickets related to racing. 

Although we agree that there is a problem that needs fixing, the City Council’s idea of a solution may not be the best way to go about it. Chad West suggested revoking the “no chase” policy to give police leeway to deal with street racers. "One of the challenges is that Dallas has a no chase policy. Our officers, unless the speed racer has committed a felony or has a felony warrant or a misdemeanor that involves violence, they can't chase them. At the same time, every city around us has chase policies. They can chase speed racers," West said. However, the introduction of "chase policy" may be an additional disaster and a safety threat to many people. There are good reasons why the chase policy was abolished in Dallas; reintroducing it may be "creating a problem to solve another problem."

According to reports released by the Dallas #Police Department in 2010, the current policy's implementation was considered safe for the public and officers, which would not be guaranteed by instituting a new police chase policy. For instance, nationally, about 1 in 100 chases ended in a fatality, about 1 in 4 pursuits ended in a crash, 87 officers, citizens, or suspects were injured or died, and two citizens were killed in crashes. These are just examples of some of the tragedies that were caused by the aborted policy. So, going back to a policy that endangers more lives is not a better solution for the current menace.

There are many other strategies that can be used to curb the street racing pandemic. For example, the methods that are already being used to deal with street racing include enforcing a juvenile curfew and working with other local authorities to put speed bumps in racers’ paths, both literally and figuratively. Additionally, the Transportation and Public Works departments can coordinate street closures and erect traffic calming devices downtown.

If the right strategies are put in place and implemented fully, street racing will be a thing of the past. However, revoking the "no chase" policy should not be among the solutions.