Police given new powers to target fleeing drivers
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has addressed the media in Hamilton as police are being given new powers to target fleeing drivers.
The new powers, announced by Police Minister Chris Hipkins and Justice Minister Kiri Allan, will include a 12-month increase to the maximum driver licence disqualification period for a second offence of failing to stop or remain stopped — from 12 months to between 12 and 24 months.
The ministers said an amendment would also be made to the Sentencing Act 2002 so that a vehicle could be forfeited on a conviction for failing to stop for police, meaning offenders could have their vehicle permanently removed and would not get any proceeds from the sale.
Finally, police would be enabled to impound a vehicle for 28 days if the owner failed or refused to provide, or provided false or misleading information about the identity of a fleeing driver.
Speaking to media alongside Ardern yesterday, Allan said: “If you are thinking of being a fleeing driver, there will indeed be tougher consequences”.
“If you choose to flee from police, you can expect to lose your vehicle.”
Allan said evidence showed penalties that led to the loss of vehicles could be an effective tool to reduce harm.
Ardern added that everything announced yesterday had been done in co-ordination with what police wanted, around the loss of a vehicle and how that impacted an offender’s ability to commit a crime.
Ardern rejected any suggestion Allan would need a nickname similar to former National Party Police Minister Judith “Crusher” Collins, who earned hers after she championed legislation that resulted in cars of boy racers being crushed.
Allan said there was a broad range of tools for police regarding fleeing drivers but they had been unable to catch some of those offenders due to the police’s own policy.
There had been an increase of 2000 fleeing drivers in the past year following the police’s last change of the pursuit policy in 2020.
Earlier this week, Police Commissioner Andrew Coster revealed their policy on pursuing fleeing drivers would change again early next year to factor in the risk of future offending by those drivers, indicating there would be more instances where police would be able to pursue offenders.
On Monday, Ardern revealed $4 million of Government funding would be split between local councils in Auckland ($2m), Hamilton ($1m) and Bay of Plenty ($1m) to match council funding for local crime prevention measures such as street lighting, CCTV cameras and bollard-esque planter boxes.
It followed the death of dairy worker Janak Patel after he was stabbed last week while he was managing the Rose Cottage Superette in Sandringham, Auckland.
The tragedy led to protests across the country from dairy workers who said they felt unsafe, particularly in areas including Auckland and Waikato which had experienced spikes in crime.
In response, the Government would also subsidise the purchase and installation of fog cannons to the tune of $4000 for any shop owner who felt vulnerable — regardless of whether they had been previous victims of crime — something which had limited the application of crime prevention methods in the past.
The $6m Retail Crime Prevention fund — designed to support businesses hit by ram raids — would be expanded to include those who had experienced aggravated robberies.
Ardern said she had been in talks with the Hamilton City Council around criminal activity, which prompted Monday’s announcement about funding local crime prevention methods. Mayor Paula Southgate had been integral in those conversations.