Police chases spur plea for change
The mother of a woman killed by a driver being chased by police 14 years ago says the latest fatal crash shows police pursuit tactics must change.
‘‘How many people have to die in these crashes before police get it right?’’ said Auckland’s Michelle Toko.
A driver fleeing police on Monday morning crashed into a tree killing two passengers. It is the second fatal police chase in Auckland in a fortnight.
Road safety campaigner Clive Matthew-Wilson also weighed in, slating the police-chase policy, saying it too often resulted in needless carnage.
‘‘It’s a myth that aggressive police pursuits catch the bad guys,’’ said Matthew-Wilson. ‘‘The evidence is really clear: aggressive police pursuits frequently end in death or injury. And it’s not just the guilty who get hurt.’’
But police stand by their policy. One passenger died at the scene, another in hospital, after a car driven by a 22-year-old male slammed into a tree at high speed in the suburb of Morningside.
Three other passengers were taken to hospital with serious injuries.
Police initially spotted the vehicle speeding at about 130kmh in an 80kmh zone on the nearby northwestern motorway.
A police motorway patrol car caught up to the vehicle, Detective Inspector Scott Beard said, but it failed to pull over and instead fled from police, initiating the pursuit. Around 1am, the vehicle left the motorway and, while overtaking another vehicle crashed into a tree.
Toko said she turned to alcohol and had suicidal thoughts in the 10 years after losing her daughter Amber in 2003. She said the emotional toll it took was enormous.
Amber, 21, and her partner Joseph Ahkiau, 33, were killed after a speeding teenage driver ploughed into their truck around midnight of December 18.
The 19-year-old man was fleeing police at high speeds through Mt Roskill, in a chase that lasted only a minute before the impact. The couple died at the scene, as did the passenger in the offending driver’s car.
Toko said that after a very dark period, the main thing that pulled her through was family; being there for her youngest daughter and her son was paramount.
When hearing of the fleeing driver crash on Morningside on Monday, Toko’s first reaction was ‘‘not again, does anything ever change?’’.
‘‘[Police] are out there to protect us and we want them to protect us but it wasn’t just the drunk driver that contributed to my daughter’s demise – if the police hadn’t been chasing him he wouldn’t have killed my daughter – so they need to take responsibility for their actions as well because they are 50 per cent of why my daughter is not here.
‘‘It’s just so difficult because they’re damned if they do [pursue fleeing drivers] and damned if they don’t – but there must be a better solution. It is time to look at police policies and procedures again.’’
Police must strike a balance between the responsibility to protect life and the duty to enforce the law, said Assistant Commissioner Road Policing, Sandra Venables. ‘‘But at the end of the day it is up to the driver to take more responsibility and make better decisions.’’
She said the two recent fleeing driver incidents, which both resulted in fatalities, demonstrate the tragic consequences that can occur if a driver chooses not to stop for police.
Matthew-Wilson said: ‘‘Many Australian states ban or restrict police chases, except in emergencies. These policies are often hated by frontline police, but have proven results.’’
Between 2000 and 2011, there were 19 deaths associated with police chases in Queensland.
‘‘But since restrictions on police chases were put in place six years ago, there have been no deaths associated with police pursuits.’’
The police fleeing driver policy is an extensively reviewed and revised document, with seven major reviews occurring since 1996.
Venables said it was last updated in July 2016, to ensure it remains ‘‘fit for purpose’’ and aligns with other police policies.
‘‘The changes stem from a desire within police and the Independent Police Conduct Authority to ensure a continuous improvement approach applies in this policy area. Each review has strengthened and enhanced and refined our policy to make it safer for all.’’
This was the second fatal crash involving a police chase in Auckland this month. On October 9, teen Morocco Tai died after the car he was driving hit a tree following a brief chase in O¯ tara.