Four police pursuit reviews, a fifth under way - and all the while needless deaths

Monday, 14 January 2019

More people keep dying in crashes following police pursuits. Is enough being done to stop it?

ANALYSIS: In the wake of the latest deaths from a crash following a police pursuit, one comment stood out. It came from Canterbury police district commander Superintendent John Price, as he addressed the media after the tragedy:

'Police always face a difficult balance in protecting the public from dangerous driving behaviour and potentially causing the offending drivers to take greater risks.'

Difficult balance. It is easy to argue that three teenagers would not have been killed had police not given chase to the stolen car they were driving, or laid road spikes to immobilise it, which after travelling over the car lost control, hit a tree and burst into flames. It is equally easy to say the driver should not have been driving through central Christchurch streets in excess of 130kmh, running red lights and endangering the public.

The driver and his passenger died after fleeing police and crashing into a power pole at high speed in Aranui in December.

Police, the media, independent watchdogs and judiciary have been grappling with how best to strike this balance for some time. The police's pursuit policy has been reviewed four times already since 2000 and a fifth review is due next month. Several of these reports were prompted by public concern over needless deaths. All have aimed to improve public safety.

**READ MORE:

* [Young brothers killed after fleeing car explodes in 'huge ball of fire'

*](https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/109902537/three-dead-in-christchurch-crash) Pregnant mum Renee Percy killed in double-fatal Christchurch crash

* Car chased by police minutes before fatal accident

The crash scene at Blenheim Rd, Christchurch where three teenagers died after their car crashed and exploded on Sunday night. Credit: MARK SCOTT / SUPPLIED

* Number of people being killed during police chases on rise**

Sadly, they haven't worked. The number of people killed during or after police chases rose every year between 2014 and 2017 and the issue was a matter for concern for some time before this. A 2009 Independent Police Conduct Authority review by Justice Lowell Goddard found that even then, about one in four recorded pursuits ended in a crash, about one in 50 ended in serious injury and about one in 500 in death. Fleeing drivers tended to be young men, few of whom had committed serious crimes.

The stolen car hit police spikes, crashed into a tree, came to a stop in a car park then burst into flames in Christchurch.

The judge noted existing police policy at the time – 'If there is no need to immediately apprehend the driver or the risks are too great, a pursuit is not to be initiated' – as still not going far enough. 'Immediate need to apprehend' was subjective. Open to police officers who had a rush of blood to the head when someone disobeyed their authority, or varying interpretations of what type of offender needed to be caught straight away. Justice Goddard recommended the risk to the public of not stopping a fleeing driver be the main consideration in deciding to start or continue a pursuit:

'The  Authority  questions  the  value  of  pursuits  that  begin  over  driving  offences  such  as  speeding,  careless  driving,  or  suspected  drink  driving  without  observable, immediate threat to public safety.'

Alexia Noble-Hazelwood was killed in a crash in Gloucester St, Christchurch in November. The driver was fleeing police.

Driver Dennis Tunnicliffe died after fleeing police and crashing into a power pole in Christchurch in December.

Clearly, there are no easy answers for how to deal with motorists who refuse to stop for police and drive recklessly to avoid capture, but for pursuit deaths to continue rising in the face of numerous reviews, something isn't translating from theory to practice. Even as the changes from the Goddard review were due to be implemented in 2010, there were concerns police hadn't followed its recommendations closely enough. Then acting national road policing manager Inspector Rob Morgan rejected the claims, listing a raft of changes, including more abandonment criteria, better radio procedures, safety warnings and limiting the number of police cars involved in a chase to two.

'Our over-riding principle is that staff and public safety takes precedence over the immediate apprehension of the offender,' he said.

There are other options. A number of United States cities and counties have adopted a 'violent offenders only' policy to pursuits, drastically reducing the number of chases (about 350 down to 51 in the first year in Miami-Dade county) without any increase in crime. In Miami-Dade, the number of crashes fell in accordance with the reduction in pursuits – i.e. fewer pursuits equalled fewer deaths. Justice Goddard noted that road spikes, often used to stop a fleeing vehicle after a pursuit was called off, risked 'placing [police] and others in serious danger': 'In some pursuits fleeing drivers have crashed after swerving to avoid road spikes.'

In 2010, Inspector Morgan told Stuff police were already calling off pursuits for minor offences where the driver's identity was known, but were reluctant to restrict pursuit criteria:

'We're not going to hand over the roads to people breaking the law. This is really risky behaviour. They are in total control of the situation, all they have to do is stop.'

The latest review of pursuit policy was due at the end of last year, but has been delayed until next month. Interest in its contents will be heightened after the recent spate of pursuit deaths, including six in Christchurch in the last two months, that will surely erode the public's tolerance for the status quo. Opting not to chase anyone would set a troubling precedent, but limiting the number of situations where a pursuit could end badly seems like a realistic expectation. Certainly more than expecting a panicked, probably young, male driver who has already made one bad decision to follow it up with a good one. Police can't protect everybody from themselves, but as many as possible should be the goal.

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