Isn’t it about time we took a critically positive look at the risks and benefits of high-speed police chases? They seem to put life at risk all too often. Two young men died June 5 because of such a chase.

It is not certain that if the officer involved had never taken up the chase that no one would have died. However, is it not likely that had the officer simply noted the license number of the pickup, called it in to alert other officers of the possibility of danger and turned off the blue lights, that the speeding driver would have been cooled down by his companions?

Then, perhaps on the next day, a police visit to the owner of the vehicle to talk sense without threat could have had a long-lasting, beneficial effect. Violence in all forms just doesn’t seem to work. After all, police have long been called “peace officers.”

Ken Hamilton, South Paris