Anatomy of one of the wildest police pursuits Southern California has ever seen
“Oh, no,” I said to myself. As the police officer approached, I backed up out of the parking spot.
“Oh, no,” I said again, even as the police officer turned on his flashing lights, siren, and air brakes. I didn’t want to be arrested.
Two days earlier, I was arrested at an Orange County high school for wearing a shirt with a Confederate flag at a protest of alleged school racist bullying. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department, which is part of a statewide operation called TRACE, a nationwide effort to curb violent crime and stop illegal immigration, arrested me after another student allegedly pulled out a gun at a protest.
Orange County is far from a normal place. The city of Seal Beach, for example, is a small, beachside town that caters to tourists who come to see the sand and surf.
Yet the sheriff’s department has a routine of sorts called “Operation Wildfire.” It’s a department-wide hunt, in which police, often aided by the National Guard, track down drug traffickers, pedophiles, smugglers, and other criminals.
The chase ends when law enforcement finds the criminal. The chase begins when law enforcement takes on one of two missions: identifying a person who’s a threat to public safety and protecting public safety.
“Operation Wildfire” is a national search that has helped law enforcement nab nearly 1,400 people for illegal activities. It’s a high-stakes operation. When police take on the role of protecting public safety, they stand in a legal gray area.
The public has a right to protest, but they don’t have a constitutional right to do drugs or commit sex crime.
The public has a right to protest, but they don’t have a constitutional right to do drugs or commit sex crime.
In California, “wildfire” is a word that’s only used on California road signs. Here in Southern California, the phrase is more of a reality.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation operates the Orange County jail. There, they have a routine
