Today’s Deputy Coroner’s report into the avoidable death of a young man on a motorcycle during a high speed police chase must lead to a dramatic reduction in the number of dangerous high speed police pursuits in NSW. The NSW police force has by far the most high speed pursuits of any police force in Australia and its lax pursuit rules are placing far too many lives at risk.
The coronial inquest today ruled that the motorcyclist’s death was avoidable and has recommended a full review of police pursuits, including a limit of two minutes on all high-speed police car chases unless there are compelling reasons.
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Read the full findings from the Coronial Inquest into the death of Hamish Raj
The report confirms what this office has been saying for years: that the current level of police chases in NSW poses an unacceptable risk to the lives of police, offenders and innocent bystanders.
The Deputy Coroner is deeply critical of the high rate of police pursuits and in his core recommendation calls for pursuits to only be undertaken as a last resort in the most serious of circumstances:
“11. I recommend that, pending any review, urgent consideration be given to restricting high-speed pursuits to cases in which a serious offence (other than fail to stop as directed) is reasonably suspected of having been committed by the pursued driver or a person in the pursued vehicle AND (b) that person is unidentified OR there is no immediate prospect of locating him or her unless apprehended urgently. (For the purpose of this recommendation, consideration ought be given to defining “highspeed pursuit” as a pursuit in which a speed of 45kph or more over the prevailing speed limit is reached during the course of the pursuit by either the pursued vehicle or the police pursuit vehicle(s).)”
While there is no doubt that there are cases where pursuits are needed to catch a serious criminal or a person fleeing the scene of a violent crime, this is not the case for the majority of police chases in NSW which are the result of a minor traffic violation. The problem comes down to a serious flaw in police policy that. As the Deputy Coroner found:
“82. There is, however, a more fundamental problem. In my opinion, the philosophy of traffic law enforcement as conveyed in the NSWPF report is flawed in that, paradoxically, it overemphasises law enforcement to the detriment of public safety. This philosophy is given concrete form in a flawed pursuit policy and NSWPF implementation of that policy.
83. There is no other NSW government policy of which I am aware that is implemented and defended in the certain knowledge that it will result in the deaths of and injuries to NSW motorists and pedestrians. It is not overstating the case to describe the current practice of conducting high-speed pursuits as a form of “Russian roulette”. It is impossible to predict when someone will be killed or injured but at some stage that is the inevitable result of this policy. When viewed from that perspective, it is difficult to justify the policy in its current form.
84. Even when the injury or death is suffered by an offender, it is an extra-judicial punishment so severely disproportionate to almost any offence that he or she may have committed that it is also disastrous. And, as I have previously observed, the tragic consequences are inflicted not only on the offender but on his or her family and friends and the wider community.”
The NSW Police Minister needs to take responsibility for years of inaction in this area. NSW police and compliant Ministers from both Labor and the Coalition have spent the last decade ignoring the best evidence and allowed minor traffic offences to routinely escalate into deadly high speed chases.
Because the Greens have been demanding the data from the NSW Police Force through questions in Parliament, we have known for years that more than 60% of police pursuits in NSW are for traffic infringements and most should be avoided, yet sadly it takes an avoidable death for the government to be forced to consider reform.
Read the full findings from the Coronial Inquest into the death of Hamish Raj
See all of David’s media comments given today here:
Image may be NSFW.
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“NSW has far and away the most police chases of any state in NSW and the risks and dangers they create for police, offenders and innocent bystanders need to be properly considered.
“We have known for years that the majority police pursuits in NSW are for traffic infringements and most should be avoided, yet sadly it takes an avoidable death for the government to be forced to consider reform.
“Figures obtained from police by the Greens prove that the majority of NSW police car chases result from what are often minor traffic infringements that then escalate into highly dangerous police pursuits.
“While other police forces around the world are winding back the number of dangerous chases the NSW force has been stubbornly bucking that trend.
“The NSW Police Minister needs to explain why NSW police have spent the last decade ignoring the best evidence and continued to escalate often minor offences into deadly high speed chases.
“A police pursuit should be undertaken solely on the basis of the seriousness of the initial alleged offence, rather than on subsequent traffic violations.
“There is no doubt there are cases where pursuits are needed to catch a serious criminal or a person fleeing the scene of a violent crime, but this isn’t the case for the majority of police chases in NSW.
“The technology available to modern police such as in-car police cameras, polair and comprehensive on-line databases, means that nine times out of ten non-violent offenders can be far more safely and easily arrested by police when they return home than following a high speed chase.
“It’s time that NSW learned from jurisdictions in the US as well as Queensland and Tasmania where police chases are only undertaken to chase serious offenders,” Greens NSW MP and Police Spokesperson David Shoebridge.
Facts and further material:
Data obtained by the Greens has found that 60% of all NSW high speed police car pursuits in 2013 were commenced as a result of traffic offences. A further 15% were due to failure to stop at an RBT and only a tiny minority, 11%, were to pursue a fleeing criminal from a crime scene with a further 15% chasing a stolen vehicle.