Police reinforce pursuits guidelines to staff

The Commissioner of Police has today reinforced the official guidelines to staff on the conduct and management of pursuits.

The guidelines state;

• Safety is the overriding concern
  The safety of the public and staff is to take precedence over apprehending a suspected offender;
  

  
  

• The initiation and continuation of pursuits must be justifiable
  Officers are to determine whether a pursuit can be justified and, together with the shift supervisor in the Communications Centre, re-evaluate the safety risk throughout the pursuit;
  

  
  

• Communications Centre Shift Supervisors have authority to order that a pursuit be abandoned
  While drivers of pursuing vehicles have ultimate responsibility for the control of their vehicle, Communications Centres are responsible for co-ordinating the overall management of the incident. Communications Centre supervisor directions, as lawful orders, must be complied with;
  

  
  

• Further procedures are to be followed when abandoning pursuit
  When abandoning pursuit, whether according to the decision of the driver or at the direction of a Communications Centre supervisor, an officer must:
  
  
  
  • Acknowledge the direction to abandon or notify the Communications Centre that they are abandoning pursuit;
    
  • Immediately deactivate their lights and siren;
    
  • Immediately reduce their speed to under the posted speed limit;
    
  • Stop their vehicle on the roadside as soon as it is safe to do so;
    
  • Report they have stopped and give their location to the Communications Centre.
    
  
  

  
  

• Abandonment applies to all police vehicles involved in the pursuit
  When a pursuit is abandoned, either at the decision of a pursuing driver or the direction of a Communications Centre, all police vehicles involved in the pursuit are to follow the abandonment procedure.