Public Safety?

I can't resist following up on part of an earlier post with this chestnut from Friday's N&O.  Regarding the 74-mile, 100+ mph car chase of earlier in the week, Highway Patrol 1st Sgt. Steve Greene nicely sidestepped an important question.  

When asked why was it so important to stop the Chrysler, Greene said troopers followed proper procedure."

Neat trick, isn't it?  Let's you know everything's just fine.  There's nothing to see here, ma'am.  If you're unsatisfied, here's all the clarification you could find in the article: 

State Highway Patrol policy allows a trooper to continue pursuit when the need to catch a criminal suspect is greater than the danger the chase may pose to the public, the trooper or the suspect."

Yep, that's all there is to the story of a man's death in a fusillade of 39 bullets.   Nothing more on the chase that endangered who knows how many people.  Could it have been avoided?  Did the knocking off of a convenience store warrant (no pun intended) this chase?  Was there some reason to believe that the robber was so dangerous he threatened hundreds of people in four counties? Would the man be alive now if the police had waited to find him at his known address rather than chasing him at breakneck speed?  It's quite the broad policy, isn't it?  I suppose more answers will be forthcoming.  We should all be asking for them.