So What is your top speed?

[gcc123]

Has anyone had a police chase where their speeds climbed pretty high. If so what is your top speed? Where you nervous, travelling at such a high rate of speed?

[DelC]

In my neck of the woods, where our backup is 20 minutes away, it’s not unusual to reach speeds of 120 on a regular basis just responding on calls. It becomes old hat after awhile. Pursuits don’t often reach that speed. Nervous?? Nope.

[Bravo8]

Not too many pursuits in my neck of the woods, but my top speed in a police car was about 115 while responding to back up an officer from a neighboring department with a "shots fired" call. It would have been faster, but that's all she had. I was driving our old piece of sh*t car, but if I had one of the new cars............:D

[Mongo]

As an intern in a PD years ago, I remember reaching top speeds of 125 responding to a call for backup from a neighboring town where a riot in the projects had broken out. Nice experience as an intern though, and nervous.....sh1t yah, I wasn't driving.

[awheck]

one time on an emergency backup call, we hit 130. that was quite interesting to say the least.

[Mo Trooper]

A 1995 Chevy Caprice will go 133 mph, but it feels like you are floating above the ground. It's hard enough keeping an eye on the guy you are chasing, let alone keeping your own car on the road. That was in my younger and dumber days. There aren't too many people I would chase like that again.

[SecretSquirrel]

The mid 90's Caprices with the Chevy LT1 Corvette engines would do at least 130, but our patrol cars were computer chipped out at that speed. (so the car would stop accelerating) That is except for those car savvy Troopers that did their own midnight mechanical engine adjustments......You know who you are! :rolleyes:

[TrueBlue]

I have been involved in a couple of pursuits (10-13) and most were 120 mph plus. I drove a 1997 ford Crown Vic while chasing a stolen vehicle towards another jusrisdiction. I was assisting a lone deputy and reached speeds of 125-130 mph easy. I also have had the "pleasure" of chasing a stolen mototrcycle at 90-100 mph, which of course he ended up wrecking! The funny thing is that a couple of months later another officer on my shift chased the same bike, but different suspect.
We average at least 2-3 10-80's (Vehicle pursuits) a night shift (3 month period then we rotate to day shift). The only reason I can come up with is that since we are 30 miles away from the FL line they all tend to go towards the state line. Like if it was an old episode of Duke's of Hazard, but we follow anyway. I guess that's why there are so many "southern" chases shown on cop shows like world scariest.
With the 1998-99 crown vic's it was harder to attain those type of speeds. Ford had a recall on most of those transmissions and they were all "Factory" governed at 120 mph. At 120 the engine begins to back off and has a tendency to momentarily shut down. The 2000-01 have corrected the Tranny problems, but I still cat get the damned thing much above 125 mph. So far as being scared things are going by so fast that I didn't have the time to be scared. it usually sets in after the chase, when you go damn that was "FAST". especially when someone say's "did you see that"? and you say "see what"?

[wolfeman112]

I once got into a pursuit for a GLA (stolen auto) and got up to 115 mph on the Grand Central Parkway. I was in a chevy Caprice (1998) and was chasing a Dodge Intrepid. It was about 3 am and there was no one on the road. I had other units block the highway at a certain location but in NYC you have to leave an escape route, which the perps took. needless to say they got away, but I recovered the auto they were trying to steal.

Also I got into a pursuit and was doing a big 25mph. It was about 3 am again on a snowy/icy nite. We were responding to back up a unit following a GLA. We couldn't do more than 25 mph without sliping all over the road. the perp bailed out and we got him.

BTW - most vehicle pursuits in NYC get caled off right away for liability purposes unless it's in regard to a violent crime.