A motorcyclist was injured after a crash following a police pursuit on Fairy Springs Rd in September last year. Photo/file
A motorcyclist was injured after a crash following a police pursuit on Fairy Springs Rd in September last year. Photo/file
Nearly three drivers a week are fleeing from police in Rotorua - some "driving like complete morons in the hope that police will give up".
As well as more chases in the region, more are also ending in crashes and more involve drivers aged between 12 and 16, new figures show.
The rise has prompted calls for harsher sentences for those who fail to stop, or at least a judicial change to concurrent sentencing, meaning those responsible will be punished for failing to stop for police on top of other more serious criminal charges they might face.
Figures released to the Rotorua Daily Post under the Official Information Act show there were 150 police chases in Rotorua last year - a jump from the 103 in 2016.
In the Bay of Plenty police district there were 79 crashes following police chases, compared with 47 the year before.
"They are also totally unnecessary as all the driver involved has to do is stop, as opposed to making things worse for themselves and others."
Crowe said the reasons people failed to stop varied from minor driver licence breaches to being in a stolen car and worse, however the consequences of running from police could be tragic.
"I have not noticed a dramatic increase in pursuits over the last two years however I am aware of changing attitudes among some where drivers are more brazen in their attempts to get away and at the extreme end are willing to deliberately crash into police vehicles.
"Some are also driving like complete morons in the hope that police will give up, highlighted by a recent incident where a 16-year-old in a stolen car drove at speed on the footpath along Hinemoa St in the middle of a week-day afternoon."
Crowe said the public expected police "to get it right", so they had to balance catching the offender against the risk to the public and staff.
"If police officers stop pursuing a fleeing driver for safety reasons rest assured we will be taking all steps to ensure we find the vehicle and hold the driver to account.
"Police focus is on preventing death and serious injury on our roads, and for that reason we will not hesitate to abandon a pursuit where there is any unjustifiable risk."
New Zealand Police Association regional director Scott Thompson said in most cases, the reasons drivers fled were minuscule compared with the end result.
"It's often they don't have their driver's licence on them, or they are slightly intoxicated, etc. Then after there's been a tragedy that causes their life to be lost or other people's lives to be lost people say 'oh, why did the police chase them?'," Thompson said.
He believed there needed to be harsher penalties for those who fled police so they would be deterred.
"Quite often when it comes to the court process the failure to stop charge just diminishes into an add-on.
"If people just stopped we wouldn't have these problems but how do you change the mindset of those that run?"
Thompson said pursuits were stressful for officers and the decision to chase was not taken lightly.
"Unfortunately for our staff ... car chases become very dangerous due to the sheer nature of what happens, even with stingers or spikes to deflate the tyres. We lost an officer in Wellington deploying those and there have been many cases where drivers are being directly driven at," he said.
However, officers were duty-bound to keep people safe - either by stopping a dangerous offender on the road or by backing off to prevent potential crashes.
"That's where it becomes difficult for our staff. They have to balance that. The public pays them to do a job and stop people suspected of a crime or to carry out random breath tests. Yet the same public beat us up and say 'why were you pursuing them' when things go wrong," Thompson said.
Sensible Sentencing Trust Rotorua spokesman Peter Bentley said often the charge of failing to stop for police would be outweighed by a more serious offence, such as an assault or robbery.
"Our own justice system has let us down so badly ... The justice system is too mellow."
"If they get five years' jail for assault and two years for running from police, then they do seven years."
A stolen police car went through this fence and hit another vehicle in December. Photo / File
Under review
The Independent Police Conduct Authority and New Zealand Police started a joint review in July last year.
Nationally, 3797 drivers fled police last year, well up on the 2308 drivers in 2013.
