The Authority oversaw a Police investigation into the actions of two officers involved in a pursuit that ended in a crash in Lower Hutt at about 2am on 1 October 2023.
The officers signalled the driver to stop because they were driving at speed, erratically and on the wrong side of the road in a residential area. The driver failed to stop, so the officers pursued. The fleeing driver accelerated, and their manner of driving further deteriorated.
The Emergency Communications Centre (ECC) ordered the pursuit be abandoned. It is accepted that the officers did not hear this, and by the time the ECC repeated the order, had decided to abandon themselves.
While in the process of turning emergency lights off and slowing to stop, the officers followed the fleeing driver along a straight section of road towards a sweeping corner. The fleeing driver rounded the corner, began to lose control and crashed into vegetation on the side of the road a short distance ahead. The Police car also rounded the corner and stopped at the side of the road.
Police policy requires units abandoning a pursuit to immediately reduce speed, deactivate warning devices once below the posted speed limit and stop as soon as it is safe to do so. Police viewed CCTV footage of the final stages of the pursuit, including the crash. They determined that the officers did not follow fleeing driver policy, driving too fast after turning off emergency lights and taking too long (between 9 and 11 seconds or 279 metres) to slow down and stop.
CCTV footage also showed that the officers stopped in a location where they could have witnessed the fleeing driver crash, but did not go forward to assist. Rather, they reversed their Police car.
The officers maintained they did not see the crash and reversed to better align their position with the road junction as reported to the ECC.
After analysing the crash scene and sight lines, the investigation concluded that it was more likely than not that the officers saw the crash.
Police addressed the officers’ actions through an employment process.
The Authority is satisfied with the Police investigation and agrees with the outcomes reached.
IPCA: 23-19835