An officer is in a serious condition after being struck by a vehicle in Manukau earlier Wednesday evening before a 21km cross-city pursuit made its way north to central Auckland. Video / Hayden Woodward / Ainslie McLean
As another Auckland cop hurt in the line of duty lies seriously injured in hospital, National’s police spokesman is calling for a faster rollout of new remote control road spikes.
Meanwhile, St John has rubbished a claim by Winston Peters that there was no ambulance available for the injured officer, saying a rapid response unit arrived within 12 minutes.
The officer was struck and critically injured in Manukau while laying spikes to stop a fleeing driver, who was caught after a dramatic cross-town pursuit.
In May, police launched a formal procurement process for new road spikes. They published a tender requesting proposals for companies able to supply about 2400 new devices.
A tender notice posted online said the spikes needed to be able to extend almost 5m and to be able to be deployed via remote control from a safe distance. Current spikes are laid by hand across the road.
National police spokesman Mark Mitchell, who in his former career as an officer served with the dog section and Armed Offenders Squad, said there were always dangers inherent in police work, especially when engaging in risky tasks like laying spikes for a fleeing driver.
But he said the dangers had become greater over the past three to four years.
Mitchell said police should if possible look at speeding up the procurement process for the new safer spikes.
“If there’s good product available ... absolutely they should look at expediting that.”
The Serious Crash Unit attends Manukau Station Rd after an officer deploying road spikes was allegedly struck by the vehicle being tracked by police.
Mitchell said he had sent a message to Police Commissioner Andrew Coster regarding the incident.
The Herald has sought comment from police and Police Minister Chris Hipkins.
Police Association vice president Grant Gerken said he understood the officer remains in a serious but stable condition in hospital.
“This was an incredibly traumatic incident for all of the officers involved, so ensuring that their welfare needs are addressed also remains a primary focus at this stage,” Gerken said.
Gerken said the incident reflects the increasingly dangerous policing environment. He said officers now go to work expecting to be assaulted.
“We used to go to work considering it as a possibility, now sadly it’s our reality.”
He said remotely activated spikes were a “no brainer”.
“The ability to not only operate the devices remotely, but to do so more covertly and with increased proximity are obvious advantages, and not features that necessarily exist with our current devices,” Gerken said.
“The Association certainly encourages priority being given to the procurement of these devices.”
On Thursday, NZ First leader Winston Peters took to Twitter to suggest his party had information claiming that no ambulance was available for the injured officer and they were told it would be faster to drive to hospital themselves. The claim was rejected by St John.
A St John spokeswoman said in a statement they were called to the incident at 7.49pm.
“One rapid response unit [arrived 8pm], one ambulance [arrived 8.01pm] and a clinical manager [arrived 8.08pm] responded to the scene.”
The officer was treated and transported to Middlemore Hospital in a critical condition at 8.24pm, the spokeswoman said.
The officer was struck by the vehicle and seriously hurt during the start of a 21km cross-city pursuit late on Wednesday in Auckland.
They were struck while laying spikes in Manukau before the fleeing driver made their way north to the central city.
Traffic chaos on State Highway 1 near the central motorway junction. Photo / NZTA
Counties Manukau District Commander Superintendent Jill Rogers said the officer was now in hospital with serious injuries.
“Our thoughts are with the officer and their family. Ensuring they are supported is our priority.
“This was a traumatic incident for those involved and I want to acknowledge the support offered by the officer’s colleagues and members of the public.”
The investigation into the incident is ongoing, police said.
Motorists were stuck in the traffic - some reporting to have been at a standstill for 10 minutes - and had seen a car crash on the other side of the road.
A photo provided to the Herald shows a dark-coloured SUV with a broken windscreen facing the wrong direction on the Southern Motorway near Grafton Rd. Witnesses have reported seeing the same SUV being driven north earlier.
