No brake on pursuits but better training

A major review of the police pursuit policy makes no radical changes and the tactic will not be banned or pared back in any way.

The Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) ruled that the current policy “can provide the necessary balance between public safety and public protection” — however it has made eight recommendations to “enhance police understanding” of the rules.

The review also highlights the need for further research to understand why some drivers flee from police when required to pull over.

It looked at a sample of 268 fleeing driver events.

Out of this sample, 159 fleeing drivers were able to be identified. The review found:

● Nearly all fleeing drivers were male

● More than half were serious and persistent criminal offenders with multiple previous convictions.

● About half of them had been in prison before.

● One-third had at least one previous conviction for fleeing police.

The review comes at the end of The Chase — a four-day Herald series looking into pursuits and the people involved.

Police have engaged in more than

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

Earlier this week families of those killed in pursuits called for an end to the tactic.

Some wanted changes to better protect teenage drivers from being chased by police. But neither of those things has come to fruition.

IPCA chairman Judge Colin Doherty said the report endorsed “the current policy approach” to fleeing-driver events but highlighted eight recommendations to enhance the police understanding and application of the policy — including changes to the way pursuits were handled, the training given to officers and the way the events were recorded and investigated.

He said the recommendations would be “an expensive undertaking”.

“It’s not all going to happen overnight,” the judge said.

A review into whether police should engage in pursuits at all was not held because the police didn’t have the ability to look into it at the time.

Judge Doherty said what was needed to undertake such a review might be “the will to do it” from police.

Police have agreed to implement recommendations in the report.

This means they will improve the skills of staff involved in pursuits, review the fleeing-driver policy, clarify the role of the Police Eagle helicopter in pursuits, look at their professional driver programme and explore ways to improve communications during chases.

Judge Doherty said: “It is clear the training police currently receive does not adequately prepare them for these complex and dynamic events.

“Ensuring officers are equipped to make good decisions when assessing risk and providing training which reinforces a risk-averse mindset, is critical to ensuring the safety of the public, officers and offenders.

“Embedding a risk-averse mindset in police staff is one of the keys to the safe management of fleeing driver events.”