Pursuit review to go public today

Amajor review of the police pursuit policy is due to be released to the public at noon today — after more than a year of analysis and investigation into fleeing drivers and chases.

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

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.

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.

This week alone three high-profile pursuits have been in the news:

● In Sunnyvale, West Auckland, the driver of a stolen Mazda Demio led police on a chase before crashing into a fence. Police had abandoned the pursuit before the crash.

● A man fled police in Tauranga, leading them on an hour-long chase

over the Kaimai Ranges. Officers laid road spikes and after hitting those, the driver crashed the car into a tree. ● The IPCA ruled police were justified in pursuing a driver who crashed into an innocent road user. Carmen Yanko died after a fleeing vehicle collided with her car in Nelson last year. Officers falsely believed the fleeing car contained wanted offender Lewis Popata. Fleeing driver Johnathon Tairakena and his passenger

Phillip Stretch were also killed.

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

Both police and the IPCA have been tight-lipped about the review ahead of its release and both refused to comment on pursuits for The Chase series.

According to a media release from

Police and IPCA to share findings after year-long analysis

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

“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.”