Dictionary Fun with the Miami-Dade Police

According the the Miami Herald, a woman died last night when a Miami-Dade Police car collided with her Nissan.

WSVN reported that the police were trying to pull over the driver:

According to a news release... Police followed the car and tried to pull over the driver, but instead collided with the Nissan Altima that the woman was driving.

The Herald spoke with Det. Bobby Williams:

''They were not chasing the vehicle, they were following it,'' he said. ``There was no reason for their [sirens and lights] to be on because they were not in a pursuit and were not initiating a traffic stop.''

Det. Williams said much the same thing to CBS4:

"He was not in 'pursuit' of anyone," Williams said. "He was following this vehicle when the accident occurred."

So, Det. Bobby Williams would have us believe that "pursuit" is a completely different word from "following." Perhaps he's right. As you know, when people use words in a manner that seems contrary to common sense, I like to turn to the dictionary:

pur·sue
Pronunciation: \pər-ˈsü, -ˈsyü\
Function:verb
Inflected Form(s)pur·sued; pur·su·ing
transitive verb
1: to follow in order to overtake, capture, kill, or defeat
2: to find or employ measures to obtain or accomplish : seek <pursue a goal>
3: to proceed along <pursues a northern course>

synonyms; see chase

OK, no surprises there. Now let's see what it says about 'follow:'

fol·low
Pronunciation: fä- lō\
Function: verb
1: to go, proceed, or come after <followed the guide>
2 a: to engage in as a calling or way of life : pursue <wheat-growing is generally followed here>
2 b: to walk or proceed along <follow a path>
3 a: to be or act in accordance with <follow directions>
3 b: to accept as authority : obey <followed his conscience>
4 a: to pursue in an effort to overtake

synonyms; follow , succeed , ensue , supervene
see in addition chase

All right, you might notice that both words have "chase" as a synonym. But let's look at these definitions again, and this time I'm going to emphasize some crucial bits:

pur·sue
1: to follow in order to overtake, capture, kill, or defeat
2: to find or employ measures to obtain or accomplish : seek<>

synonyms see chase

fol·low
1: to go, proceed, or come after
2 a: to engage in as a calling or way of life : pursue
2 b: to walk or proceed along
3 a: to be or act in accordance with
3 b: to accept as authority : obey
4 a: to pursue in an effort to overtake

synonyms follow , succeed , ensue , supervene
see in addition chase

Well, it appears that Detective Bobby Williams is full of crap. Or he's illiterate.

The police were obviously not "following" the speeder as a vocation, nor were they "following" the speeder as a code to be in accordance with. The only way "follow" works in this case is that they were chasing a speeding car to apprehend a law breaker, and that means that "follow" and "pursue" are exactly the same thing in this context. It was a chase.

The reality is that the police cruiser absolutely should have had its lights and sirens on. In fact, the only reason those cars HAVE lights and sirens is so that the taxpaying and largely law-abiding public will be alerted to the fact that they are to get to an emergency and we need to get out of their way.

The officers in question showed a total disregard for public safety and a flagrant disregard for the law. Det. Williams demonstrates a lack of candor that we should not tolerate from those whom we entrust with our safety.