Pursuits: the case for change
Report to the Commissioner of New Zealand Police from the team headed by Superintendent Roger Carson
ISBN 0-477-10000-7
December 2005
Executive summary
Introduction
This review was commissioned in late July 2003 by the
Deputy Commissioner Operations. DC Long sought an
authoritative study to assess the quality and adequacy
of current pursuits policy and practice in the wake
of considerable media and public concern over two
pursuits in 2003 that ended with three fatalities. These
deaths occurred in a short space of time, and contrasted
with just six pursuit related deaths in the previous seven
years.
Objective and scope
The review team undertook a robust examination of all
matters relating to police pursuits in New Zealand since
the previous review in 1996 (known as the "Gibson
Report"). They set out to identify areas of concern,
and to provide recommendations for future policy and
practice. To achieve this aim, the review team examined:
- international pursuit literature
- legislation and legal matters relating to pursuits
- outcomes and factors involved in pursuit activity in New Zealand in the period 1996-2002
- developments in the pursuits policy area in recent years
- current practices in relation to pursuit management
- current thinking in relation to police driving and driver training.
The timeframe did not allow substantial qualitative
research (such as interviews with frontline staff other
than at the communications centres), but even so a
wealth of information emerged. This resulted in a
report rather longer than planned, but the value of the
material presented in this report not only provides the
Police Executive with the comprehensive examination of
pursuits they wanted but will act as an excellent future
reference.
Chapter outlines
Chapter One - background
This chapter outlines the background to the review and
the steps taken to ensure a comprehensive examination
of police pursuits in New Zealand was carried out. It
also presented police data on contacts with the public
to put pursuits into context. This demonstrates that
pursuits are rare occurrences. Police are involved in
more than 5 million events each year, of which almost
3.5 million are directly related to traffic enforcement.
Using the 3.5 million events that are directly related to
traffic enforcement as a base, the 785 pursuits recorded
in 2002 represent 1 pursuit for every 4,459 events. If
some offences (such as stolen vehicles) and incidents
(such as vehicle occupant "turnovers") that are known
to result in pursuits are also considered, the ratio is even
higher. In a single year, most police will engage in a
pursuit only rarely, if at all.
Chapter two - the wider picture
This chapter presents fascinating information about
pursuits taken from the international literature. This
body of work highlights the major tension in pursuit
activity between the need to prevent and control crime
but also to maintain public safety. A key finding was
that that although all pursuits begin with an attempt
by a police officer to stop a vehicle for reasons such as
a traffic violation, the investigation of potential criminal
offending, or other everyday policing activities, the
decision by the offender to flee completely changes
the situation. Police officers are well aware that the
small number of people who do not stop usually have
good reason for wanting to evade the Police. This is
reinforced by the rare nature of these events and the
criminal profile of the offenders involved. The original
reason for wanting to stop the offender’s vehicle is
largely irrelevant once the offender fails to stop, as
this changes the nature of the situation by signalling
that something of additional significance is likely to be
present.
The literature also emphasises the commonly recognised
‘blue-lighting’ culture within police organisations
and the psychological and physiological effects on an
individual in a pursuit situation. These make it vital that
officers have clear guidelines and training to ensure they
have the necessary technical skills and decision-making
ability to undertake pursuits safely and discontinue
them where appropriate. The literature is also clear on
the need for a sound infrastructure that incorporates
professional supervision, management, oversight, and
review of pursuit events.
Chapter three - the law
This chapter provides a brief analysis of various
legal issues that impact on police pursuits, from the
legal powers of police to stop vehicles to the legal
restrictions, protections, and liabilities relevant to police
driving. A critical point is that there is no blanket
protection for police officers while driving and that
a duty of care exists in all situations. In addition to
issues such as the potential for police to commit traffic
offences and be liable to charges of criminal negligence
should proper care not be exercised, Police as an
organisation also has health and safety obligations
towards both its own staff and to those affected by
police activities.
The chapter also highlights a number of issues with
both legislation and internal Police policy documents,
identifying the need to address shortcomings in Police
General Instructions and the potential for legislative
amendments to increase penalties for failing to stop.
Chapter four - the nature of pursuits 1996-2000
In this chapter the review team uses three types of
available information to present a picture of pursuits in
New Zealand from 1996 to 2002 - all pursuits reported
on the official *PURSUE form, all files of fatal pursuits,
and an audit of a sample of pursuits where the offender
was charged with dangerous or reckless driving. Whilst
there were limitations to the *PURSUE data, the analysis
provided a wealth of information that has not previously
been available.
For example: there were 4,076 pursuits in the 7-
year period, an average of 582 a year; most pursuit
offenders have substantial criminal offending histories
(the apprehended pursuit offenders over the 7 years
had accumulated over 60,000 criminal convictions
between them); the proportion of pursuits abandoned
by Police has increased markedly since 1996 (with a
corresponding decrease in offenders apprehended);
road spikes are able to be deployed in very few pursuits;
that 34% of pursuits involve damage (a crash of some
form) to an offender’s vehicle and 6% to a Police
vehicle; and both Police and offender crashes are
trending downwards.
Examination of the fatal pursuit files shows that these
events involved offenders with criminal histories, and
that the pursuits were relatively short, with no time
to use tactics such as road spikes. The audit sample
highlighted deficiencies in the provision of information
from pursuing officers to Police communication centres,
at least partly attributable to single-crewing, short
pursuits, and crowded radio channels, although training
and policy issues were also identified.
Chapter five - recent developments
This chapter examines developments since the Gibson
report and specifically tracks progress against the
recommendations of that review. The main finding
of this chapter is that while there have been many
changes to pursuit policy in this period, only increased
driver training for recruits has been the direct result
of the Gibson report. While some of the report’s
other findings in the area of legislation and vehicle
specifications have effectively been implemented,
there has been no action on the majority of report
recommendations. This is particularly the case in the
area of road spikes, the increased use of which formed
a key recommendation of the Gibson report.
Separate to the Gibson report recommendations, a
potentially far-reaching shift in policy, training and
practice has been under development for some
time. Previously known as the Safe Driving Policy and
now as the Professional Police Driving Programme
(PPDP), this initiative would implement a driver
and vehicle classification and assessment system
similar to that used by other police organisations in
comparable jurisdictions. Proposals to implement the
PPDP are under development and form one of the
recommendations of this review.
Chapter six - management of pursuits
This chapter examines issues around the management
of pursuits, such as the role and responsibilities of both
drivers and the Communication Centres. In particular,
it highlights the critical shortcomings of current
pursuit policy documents. For example, Police general
instructions provide insufficient guidance to different
groups and are in fact unclear and inconsistent.
Resolving these issues is a recommendation of the
review.
This chapter also discusses technology related problems
and opportunities. There are major issues with radio
congestion and reception, while Police Communication
Centres lack ready access to crucial information such
as the availability of road spikes and the locations of
police units. Currently available technology provides an
opportunity to address these issues, with devices such
as automatic vehicle location, in-car video, and hands
free microphones all having potential to greatly improve
the conduct and management of these incidents. These
are all presently under consideration and trials are
planned or underway.
Chapter seven - drivers and vehicles
This chapter examines driver training and policy, and
the pursuit capability of police drivers and vehicles. It
sets out police driver training, which currently focuses
on recruit training at the Royal New Zealand Police
College. While this recruit training is equivalent to
that delivered by many other Police organisations,
New Zealand Police do not have the formal systems
of ongoing training and assessment found overseas.
While some districts carry out ad hoc training and there
is a limited programme for members of the Highway
Patrol and Commercial Vehicles Investigation Unit,
there are no national standards or co-ordination. In
addition to skill issues, anecdotal evidence indicates that
some drivers do not advise Communications Centres
of the full circumstances of a pursuit in case they are
instructed to abandon pursuit, indicating that there may
also be issues with the attitudes of some police drivers.
This chapter concludes that not all police drivers are
capable of carrying out pursuit driving. In addition,
approximately 25% of the police vehicle fleet is
composed of four wheel drive or other vehicles unsuited
to carrying out pursuits.
This chapter also discusses the proposed professional
driving programme in some detail, setting out
indicative classification systems for drivers and vehicles.
If implemented, the programme will provide clear
guidelines for vehicle and driver deployment and an
ongoing programme to monitor driver capabilities. In
essence, it will better enable Police to meet health and
safety obligations to staff and the public by ensuring
that only qualified staff in the appropriate vehicle
engage in pursuits and urgent duty driving.
Chapter eight - conclusion and recommendations
The final chapter of the report concludes that most
pursuits are short, essential and safe. It takes elements
from previous chapters and uses them as the basis for
recommendations. The review team approached the
task of making recommendations by establishing that
they must be concrete and measurable, should be
prioritised and weighted, should be as few as possible,
should not attempt to micro-manage implementation,
and must add value.
Following these principles, the report makes eleven
recommendations in total and prioritises them as
urgent, medium-term and long-term. The first 3
recommendations are urgent and will result in immense
change to the current pursuit environment and police
driving generally. In short they require:
- the appointment of a member of the Police
Executive to implement all decisions arising from the
report
- the implementation of the Professional Police Driving
Programme
- the immediate rewriting and dissemination of
General Instructions and policy on pursuits and
urgent duty driving.
The usefulness and success of the pursuits review
rests on the implementation of these three
recommendations, particularly the Professional Police
Driving Programme. Pursuits do not happen in a
vacuum. They arise in the context of policing as a
whole, and can be seen as a particular kind of police
driving. Whilst the review has shown that motor vehicle
pursuits are relatively rare, and few end in death or
serious injury, Police cannot afford to sit back. Action on
police driving is needed now, and it should be decisive
and far-reaching.
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Recommendations
Urgent (by 31 March 2003)
- A member of the Police Executive should be charged with implementing the decisions which follow this report.
- The Professional Police Driving Programme should be implemented now.
- General Instructions and policy on pursuits and urgent duty driving should be rewritten and implemented forthwith.
Medium-term (by 31 December 2004)
- Trials of the following should be evaluated and followed up:
- hands-free microphones
- global positioning systems (automatic vehicle location)
- in-vehicle videos.
- All references to imperative and elective pursuits should be removed from documentation.
- Introduce an event code for pursuits on the Computer Aided Dispatch database.
- Review electronic form *PURSUE in the light of this report.
- At all stages of training, basic driving skills and the experience and attitude required to carry out those skills in thepolicing environment should be considered separately.
- Patrol car drivers and communications centre staff should receive regular training and practice in the techniques of radio communication during emergencies.
Longer term (those which call for further research or reflection, or where Police are in no position to dictate timing)
- Police should promote a legislative provision expressly to authorise the use of road spikes and similar devices.
- The offences of failing to stop should be made punishable by imprisonment.
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Table of contents
Executive summary
Chapter One - Background to the review
Chapter Two - The wider picture
Chapter Three - The law
Chapter Four - The nature of pursuits 1996-2002
Chapter Five - Recent developments
Chapter Six - Management of pursuits
Chapter Seven - Drivers abd vehicles
Chapter Eight - Discussion and recommendations
References
Glossary of terms
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