The Authority oversaw a police investigation into a serious crash following a pursuit in Waitemata. At about 11.47pm on 20 May 2019 a police patrol signalled a vehicle to stop for travelling at 100 kmph in a 50 kmph speed zone. After a short time, the fleeing driver lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a power pole, seriously injuring himself and a passenger.
The police investigation established that the officer was justified in initiating and continuing the pursuit but found the officer driving in breach of policy regarding providing pursuit commentary.
The joint Police and Authority review conducted in 2019 recommended eight high level actions to improve Police's management of fleeing driver events. Included in these recommendations was for Police to review the current training programme and ensure that the relevant policy was fit for purpose. Recently, in light of this, Police have made amendments to the fleeing driver policy with the aim of reducing risk to all parties involved.
The Authority is satisfied with how Police conducted the investigation and the outcomes they reached.
IPCA: 18-2571