The pursuits
The ‘Fleeing Drivers in New Zealand’ includes numerous pursuit case studies. Here are some of them:
❚ A suspicious car noticed in urban Christchurch was thought to be linked to offences including petrol drive-offs and a burglary. The driver’s identity was unknown. Police pulled in front of the car, which had pulled over to let a passenger out. It accelerated away, driving at 140kmh in a 50kmh zone. Less than 35 seconds after notifying comms of the pursuit, the patrol car abandoned the pursuit due to safety concerns. The passenger who was dropped off would not name the driver. An arrest warrant was issued on the suspect. The car was impounded several days later.
❚ Officers tried to stop a car they suspected was stolen. They couldn’t confirm this, but the car failed to stop when signalled, and a pursuit ensued. The car reached speeds of 100kmh in a 50kmh area. It crashed into a concrete power pole, causing damage to the car, then hit into a third party vehicle before the driver ran off. He was caught. Insufficient consideration was given as to how the damaged car might have increased the risk to the fleeing driver or other road users.
❚ A police patrol car pursued a car that had driven off from a police cordon and was driving at 180kmh. The Eagle helicopter took over and all ground staff pulled back. Having lost sight of police the fleeing car slowed down to just over 100kmh. But on three occasions the car passed patrol cars parked on the motorway without lights or sirens going. The sight of them was enough to cause the fleeing driver to increase his speed to 200kmh. The helicopter continued tracking the car to a house where the driver was caught.
❚ A pursuit started after a suspicious vehicle in a residential area failed to stop. It sped onto a state highway, weaving in and out of traffic and through a red light. The commentary from the police unit was slow and central comms had to prompt for updates and request more information. A second police unit called for the pursuit to be abandoned after the fleeing car began driving on the wrong side of the road. When the car returned to the correct lane, comms told the unit it did not have permission to restart the pursuit, but could use road spikes. The car was eventually successfully stopped by spikes, and the offenders caught.
❚ A car seen driving erratically did not stop when signalled and reached speeds of 130kmh. It was late on a Friday night and there was little traffic on the road. Officers felt the driver posed a considerable risk as the car was heading toward Invercargill where there would be a large number of pedestrians. Officers were told they could use road spikes. The car drove over road spikes three times but didn’t stop. Just before getting to the CBD the car was boxed in between a pole, two civilian vehicles and two patrol cars. The driver tried to squeeze the car out of the situation but was caught.