Stop chases for traffic offences

It is time for a drastic rethink of how police respond to drivers flouting their authority.

Three crashes involving police pursuits in Christchurch in less than three months have left six people dead, including two 13-year-old children.

Their families are grieving and the police officers involved are devastated. Official inquiries into the circumstances of each pursuit will take months and may well find that the officers followed official policy. But it is that policy that is letting our police officers down. It advises against a pursuit if there is no immediate need to apprehend the driver or the risks are too great. It requires a split-second assessment of risk in a rapidly unfolding situation, often with incomplete information.

While each situation is unique, the statistics are hard to ignore. In 2009, a review by the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) spelt it out. On average, one in four pursuits ends in a crash. One in 50 results in serious injury and one in 500 ends in a death. Four out of 10 fleeing drivers were aged under 20, most were male. Most had committed traffic offences and posed no obvious threat to public safety. Very few involved violent offenders.

Overseas, some Australian and US jurisdictions have restricted pursuits to situations involving violent offences. Studies have shown such changes have dramatically reduced the injuries and deaths with no corresponding increase in criminal offending.

A fresh review into the pursuits policy by the IPCA is due to report in weeks. But it is already clear the current policy is failing. It is hard to accept that a speeding driver flagrantly disregarding police authority should be left to race through city streets, but it is also intolerable that a police response risks lives and increases the danger to the public. Put simply, police should not be involved in high-speed pursuits unless the public is in imminent danger from a violent offender. Too many lives have already been lost.