Car chase

A car chase is the vehicular hot pursuit of suspects by law enforcers. The rise of the automotive industry in the 20th century increased car ownership, leading to a growing number of criminals attempting to evade police in their own vehicle or a stolen car. Car chases are often captured on film and broadcast due to the availability of video footage recorded by police cars and police and media helicopters participating in the chase. In some countries they are a popular subject with media and audiences due to their intensity and drama and the innate danger of high-speed driving.

In reality

Car chases occur when a suspect attempts to use a vehicle to escape from law enforcement attempting to detain or arrest him or her. The assumed offence committed may range from misdemeanours such as traffic infractions to felonies as serious as murder. When the suspect realizes that they have been spotted by law enforcement, they attempt to lose their pursuers by driving away, sometimes at high speed. In 2002, 700 pursuits were reported in the city of Los Angeles. Los Angeles television station KCAL reported a quadrupling of ratings when police pursuits aired. Police officials have asked news media to reduce coverage of chases, claiming that they encourage suspects to flee and inciting gawkers to possibly get in the way of the pursuit, while the media responds that coverage of chases provides a public service and provide a deterrent to police brutality.

Mesquite, Texas

Mesquite is a city and an eastern suburb of Dallas, Texas. Most of the city is located in Dallas County. As of the 2010 census, the population was 144,416 making it the twentieth most populous city in the state of Texas.

History

The city was founded on March 14, 1878, on land along the Texas & Pacific Railroad outside of Dallas. The railroad, which ran from Dallas to Shreveport, Louisiana, began stopping at the newly created town shortly thereafter, and the city began to grow around the railroad. The city was officially incorporated on December 3, 1887.

Mesquite prospered through the late 19th century and early 20th century as a farming community growing cotton, hay, corn and sugar and using the railroad to ship raw goods. The town remained predominantly agrarian until after World War II when the suburban boom also took root in Mesquite. The city's population rapidly grew from 1,696 in the 1950 census to 27,526 in 1960 and 55,131 in 1970.

In 1958, the Mesquite ProRodeo was established, and in 1959, Big Town Mall opened as the first air conditioned shopping mall in the United States. The mall was demolished in the summer of 2006.