This is good to see. After years and YEARS of police engaging in wholly unnecessary and extremely unsafe high-speed pursuits, there's finally a chance one of them may be held accountable for the destructive and deadly consequences of their actions.
The vast majority of high-speed pursuits simply aren't justified. Police engage in them because of a combination of entirely selfish factors, mostly the apoplectic fury they feel in their diseased cop minds that anyone would DARE to resist their authority (and the overpowering desire to PUNISH this person whatever the cost) and the adrenaline rush they get from doing something exciting. Public safety is typically not among the reasons, and indeed public safety is a consideration that simply doesn't register to police officers engaging in these pursuits that are unjustifiably dangerous in most cases.
And in fact, the City of Minneapolis recognized this and this is why two years ago they instituted a new policy: no more high speed pursuits unless (1) the suspect has committed or is about to commit "a serious and violent felony gross misdemeanor" or (2) the suspect's driving is "so flagrantly reckless that the driver would pose an imminent and life-threatening danger to the public if not apprehended."
Neither of these factors were present. The suspect was driving a car reported as stolen, that's it. Nonetheless, the officer made a conscious decision to ignore official policy and ignore public safety, initiating a high-speed chase which involved speeds in excess of 100 mph through residential neighborhoods and ended with him running a red light, slamming into another vehicle at nearly 80 mph and killing someone.
I hope he is convicted. I hope cops far and wide see that we've had enough of them flagrantly ignoring public safety in the interests of pursuing their own grotesque and selfish ends rather than PROTECTING public safety like they're supposed to be doing, and that they might actually face meaningful consequences for their horrible decisions.