Police pursuit policy review due to be made public

AUCKLAND: A major review of police pursuit policy is due to be released today, after more than a year of analysis and investigation into fleeing drivers and chases.

‘‘Fleeing Drivers in New Zealand: a collaborative review of events, practices, and procedures’’ is a joint review by New Zealand Police and the Independent Police Conduct Authority.

Police have engaged in more than 30,000 pursuits in the past 10 years, during which time 79 people have been killed in crashes.

Others have been killed in pursuitrelated incidents, including police shootings, and hundreds, including those in the fleeing cars and the patrol cars chasing them, have been injured.

As of March 4 there had been 843 pursuits this year and four people killed in crashes.

Three of those were teenagers, after the stolen car they were driving in Christchurch crashed into a tree and burst into flames.

A fourth man died after driving into the path of an oncoming truck in Hawke’s Bay.

Another man was shot following a pursuit in Kawerau.

Police estimate they are involved in an average of 300 pursuits a month.

The purpose of the review, which started in July 2017, was to better understand the pursuit environment, and to identify any current issues with police management of the events.

The review will also identify areas of good practice.

Both police and the IPCA have been tightlipped about the review before its release.

According to a media release from November 2017, the review is including all police pursuits notified to the IPCA between January 1 and December 31, 2017 — about 75 incidents.

The IPCA said all cases covered by the review were being analysed to ‘‘identify common themes and issues and identify areas of good practice’’.

A joint working group has been meeting fortnightly to consider the results of that analysis.

Police were also undertaking a review of international literature and police practice.

‘‘A more general review of all pursuits will enable both organisations to develop a better understanding of pursuits and the management of events,’’ the IPCA statement said.

‘‘This will help to identify opportunities to improve police policy, practice and procedures.’’

The review was supposed to be completed late last year, but was delayed until today.