Editorial: Police pursuit policy has balance right

Photo / Martin Sykes

There is no more graphic illustration of the bedevilling nature of police pursuits than the fact that four police reviews of the issue have been prepared in the past six years. Overseas forces have had similar problems coming to terms with the need to balance the benefits of apprehension against the risks of endangering police officers, the public and those being chased. This year, the issue has attracted considerable attention in this country because of the six deaths and 621 injuries that have been recorded in 1280 chases. Inevitably, there have been calls for the police to acknowledge the inherent dangers of pursuits, and severely restrict the practice, thereby avoiding needless accidents and injuries.

Similar appeals overseas have led many forces to make more effort to control pursuits. But, understandably, there is a reluctance to take this too far. As the latest local review notes, it is questionable whether the public would support a policy that allowed offenders to flee from the police. Additionally, the review says that "if criminals know that police will not pursue them, or have so many restrictions placed on them it renders pursuits futile then the job of the police to uphold the law not only becomes difficult but almost impossible".

That is a fair conclusion. The emphasis must therefore be on minimising the dangers raised by pursuits as far as possible. That, most importantly, requires police to have a keen appreciation of the risks involved, rather than simply the practical training to mount a chase.

There are many issues for officers to consider. Chief among these are the severity of the crime that has brought a car to their notice, and the safety of those involved in the chase and the public. The latter factor raises issues such as the speed likely to be involved in the pursuit, the manner in which the pursued car is being driven, the volume of pedestrian and vehicle traffic, the time of the day, weather and road conditions, police familiarity with the area, and whether the suspect has been identified and can be apprehended later.

The severity of the crime should be the key factor in determining how far a pursuit will go. That factor highlights the problem raised by drunk or drug-affected drivers or those in stolen cars, which are common triggers for chases. There are some grounds for suggesting that pursuing drunk drivers, notably those who fail to stop at checkpoints, may only increase the chance of them crashing. In such cases, the risks may outweigh the rewards of apprehension, particularly if the driver has been identified. Similarly, it can be argued that the drivers of stolen cars could pose a safety risk out of proportion to their crime.

These, however, are judgments best left to officers on the spot. Some police forces have attempted to employ prescriptive regimes. In Western Australia, for example, the maximum allowable speed for a pursuit is 140km/h. Above that, the chase must be abandoned. The problem is that criminals are aware of such restrictions and will speed up knowing the officers must give up. This creates unnecessary frustration for the police and can raise its own safety issues.

The latest police review takes a sensible position. It recommends more training for staff, limiting the number of vehicles involved in pursuits, expanding the abandonment criteria and giving up chases once an offender has been identified. Training in knowing when to initiate, continue or end pursuits is the key. Often, that will involve a finely balanced judgment. Often, it will mean a decision in the heat of the moment over a situation not of an officer's making. But it is one the police must take in the interests of public confidence and their own morale.