Echo Issue Outline: copyright Echo Education Services
First published in The Echo news digest and newspaper sources index.
Issue outline by J M McInerney
Should police conduct high speed car chases?
On Sunday, October 15, four people died after a high speed police chase. Two of those killed were passengers in the car that had been pursued, two were the driver and passenger in another vehicle. All died in a collision between the two cars. Only the 16 year old driver of the vehicle that had been pursued survived the collision.
After the collision there were immediate calls for police to review their pursuit guidelines from both the Opposition's police spokesperson, Mr Andre Haermeyer, and from the Australian Romanian Community Welfare Help Association. (The two people killed when their vehicle was struck by the stolen car were members of Victoria's Romanian community.)
Some have claimed that stolen vehicles should not be pursued at all.
Victoria Police have responded by claiming that their guidelines are appropriate and that they will continue to pursue vehicles when it seems appropriate to do so.
Background
Last financial year there were 433 police vehicle pursuits in Victoria.
Since September 5 there have been 59 such pursuits in this state.
Published extracts from the Victoria Police pursuit guidelines include the following information.
Vehicle pursuit is defined as an attempt by a member of the police force, in a motor vehicle, to intercept a person in another vehicle, who is avoiding interception.
The guidelines state that vehicle pursuit is dangerous and includes the potential for injury and/or loss of life to persons and damage to property.
The guidelines further state that a pursuit should only be undertaken when the known reasons for doing so appear to justify the risk.
Before commencing a pursuit officers are expected to assess the potential danger to any member of the public; the competence of the pursuit drivers; the likelihood of interception at a later time and the identity of the occupants of the target vehicle, if known.
Supervisors are expected to take an active part in managing and controlling pursuits initiated by officers.
When a supervisor is not satisfied that the continuation of the pursuit is justified, he or she must terminate the pursuit.
Pursuits typically involve a primary police vehicle and a back-up unit.
Audio visual warning equipment and low-beam headlights must be activated during a pursuit.
The primary pursuit vehicle should be a marked TOG vehicle whenever possible. Failing this, it should be a marked station car.
Where other vehicles, such as motor cycles, are used, this is only to be in extreme circumstances and these vehicles are to be replaced by sedans as soon as is practicable.
Other officers not directly involved in the pursuit are to take steps to minimise the risk to road users likely to be in the path of the target vehicle.
When a pursuit creates an unacceptable risk to the safety of any person it must be terminated.
A pursuit may be terminated at any time by the senior officer in the primary unit; the driver of the primary unit; the supervisor overseeing the pursuit.
Arguments against high speed police chases.
The essential objections to police chases are that the risk is too great and the justification too slight.
Those who argue that police should not conduct high speed chases maintain that to do so always involves increasing the risk to the public and others to unacceptable levels.
Those who oppose high speed chases stress the aspects of such chases that are likely to cause injury or death to someone.
15 per cent of those caught in the 1994-95 period were aged 25 years or less.
One third of those caught were without licences, either because they were too young or because their licences had been removed after previous offences.
Three per cent were on learners permits and eight per cent were on P-plates.
Alcohol was involved in 18 per cent of chases where the drivers were caught.
It has been emphasised that given the age, possible intoxication and the desire to escape of many of those whom the police pursue high speed chases nearly always involve unacceptable risk factors.
Critics of police car chases primarily maintain that such risks to human life are rarely, if ever, justified.
Age columnist, Terry Lane, has summed up this position, stating, `If my car is stolen I will be very angry with the thief and will wish him ill, but I do not want the police to chase him or shoot him ... as much as I love my car, it is not worth a single human life.'
According to this line of argument, the recovery of property and the apprehension of the thieves does not justify the level of risk to human life involved in high speed chases.
Critics of police car chases also point out that even apart from the moral question of whether safeguarding property justifies risking life, police chases are frequently counter-productive.
One of the reasons why police chases are condemned as counter-productive is that there is a significant likelihood that the vehicle being pursued will be damaged in the chase.
If the car being chased is a stolen vehicle, its owner is likely to take little comfort in having it returned to him or her seriously damaged.
Age columnist, Terry Lane, has given, as one of his objections to police vehicle chases of any stolen car, but especially his own, the likelihood that he `won't get [his] car back anyway.'
Mr Lane is referring to the high number of police chases that end in crashes. 84 pursuits of the 433 vehicle pursuits in 1994-95 ended in crashes (though not all these were serious).
A further reason offered for police not pursuing vehicles is that to do so is very unlikely to result in the apprehension of those being pursued.
In 104 of the 433 vehicle pursuits conducted in 1994-95 the car was never caught or the driver got out and ran away. In 84 of the 433 cases either the officers directly involved or the senior supervising officer called the pursuit off.
Critics point out that these figures indicate that in 188 of 433 cases either the pursuit was called off or the driver escaped.
It has been argued that a success rate of something over 50 per cent does not justify the risk involved, particularly when 84 of those cars that were actually recovered in 1994-95 were damaged in the chase.
In total only 161 of the 433 vehicles pursued in 1995-95 were recovered undamaged and the drivers of these vehicles apprehended. Critics claim that such success rates do not justify the risks.
It has also been argued that pursuits are very unlikely to have a deterrent effect and may in fact have the reverse effect.
It has been suggested that the possibility of being pursued by the police adds to the excitement that young car thieves or `joy-riders' experience.
Mr Bernie Geary, the director of Brosnan Youth Services, has urged police to recognise `they can actually add to the dynamics of the blood rush these young kids get.'
Mr Geary has further claimed, referring to young car thieves, `They don't consider their own mortality because to them it's a kind of buzz.'
Finally it has been argued that though police guidelines may require that a pursuit be called off if the officers involved or those supervising it believe it has become too dangerous, merely calling off the pursuit will not remove the risk.
Frequently, as in the pursuit and death that occurred on October 15, once a vehicle has been pursued it continues to travel at unsafe speeds and an accident is then likely to occur.
According to this line of argument, police, when they initiate a chase, need to recognize that they may be triggering a chain of actions over which they will have no control other than as a precipitating agent.
Arguments supporting high speed police chases.
Those who argue that the police should be able to conduct high speed chases do so for a number of reasons.
They maintain that the risk involved in such chases has been exaggerated, that the guidelines the police follow are sound and that the vehicle pursuit of criminals or suspected criminals is often necessary to protect the community from greater risk.
Firstly, on the risk involved to the public through high speed police chases, it has been argued that though these risks are real and considerable, they have perhaps been exaggerated in the popular imagination.
Assistant Commissioner Shuey has noted that since 1993 seven people have died through crashes resulting from police chases. This figure includes the four deaths that occurred on October 15. Thus, prior to these most recent fatalities, there had been three deaths resulting from police pursuits between 1993 and October, 1995.
On the question of the police guidelines it has been claimed that every reasonable precaution, short of never giving chase at all, is observed.
Police are required to assess all risk factors including prevailing weather, traffic and road condition and the apparent competence of the driver in the vehicle being pursued and to weigh this against the importance of apprehending the vehicle and driver.
Police are to use marked vehicles and to use their audio/visual warning equipment and to have their lights on low beam. This is to both attract the attention of the driver of the vehicle being pursued, to encourage him or her to stop and also to warn all other drivers of the fact of the pursuit so that they can avoid its path.
It has also been noted that police officers are required to call off any pursuit which they believe has become unduly hazardous.
Finally, it has been claimed, that calls for the police to simply no longer conduct high speed chases represent a simplistic view of the situation which, if it were applied, might create more harm.
On the question of car theft and supposed `joy-riders' it has been claimed that these people represent a threat to the community whether they are pursued by the police or not.
Assistant Commissioner Shuey has noted that pursuits are often begun because of the erratic driving of the person being pursued.
`A number are travelling at high speed before police engage in pursuit. It is not unusual for people to call in on their mobile phones saying a vehicle is driving erratically, doing wheelies or high speeds,' Assistant Commissioner Shuey has claimed.
The popular perception of all those chased by the police as adolescent `joy-riders' has also been disputed.
In the 1994-95 financial year, less than 15 per cent of those drivers chased and apprehended by the police were under 17, while alcohol consumption, though not insignificant, was involved in only 18 per cent of the cases where the driver was caught.
Assistant Commission Shuey has further pointed out that the police pursue vehicles for a range of reasons, not only to apprehend teenage car thieves.
Assistant Commissioner Shuey has noted that not all car thefts are an end in themselves as, for example, car theft is an essential element in major crimes such as armed robbery.
The Victorian Police Minister, Mr Pat McNamara, has further claimed, `To suggest that we not have high speed pursuit chases in any circumstances is ridiculous ... If we had a person abducted in the boot of a car ... are you going to let those vehicles tear off unapprehended? The answer very clearly is no.'
It has also been pointed out that even where what is at issue is the apprehension of a teenage `joy-rider' not giving chase would not solve the problem.
Child psychologist, John Cheetham, has claimed, `If you had a policy that said we are not going to chase stolen cars, it's an open invitation to every man and his dog to do what they want with a car.'
Mr Cheetham has gone on to claim, `The thing about driving a fast car is that you get an immediate thrill out of it. It's something naughty, it's something daredevilish and if there's an alcohol or drug-related component, their judgement is suppressed so they're not aware of the consequences.'
If the police do not give chase to someone driving irresponsibly, for example, then further hazards may result.
The Age in its editorial of October 17 referred to an incident the month before when a stolen car `ploughed into another vehicle more than an hour after a police chase was called off'.
It has been claimed that in instances such as that referred to in The Age editorial, there is no easy solution and that the police may have to defend a decision not to give chase as much as they are currently being called upon to defend the decision to give chase.
Finally, it has been claimed that guidelines for police vehicle pusruits and the question of whether or not they should occur has already been thoroughly reviewed.
Frank Green, former Assistant Commissioner (Traffic) with Victoria Police has noted the Limited States Department of Justice, the National Police Research Instsitute, the Australian Police Commissioners Conference and the Victoria Police Force have already looked into these matters.
Further implications
It would appear that the police are not likely to heed the calls from the State Opposition and others that the guidelines covering police chases should be reviewed again.
Among changes that have been suggested is the greater use of police helicopters as a safer form of pursuit vehicle when pursuit is thought necessary.
It has been claimed in some newspaper reports that police vehicle guidelines have recently been revamped, though the detail of any changes has not been released.
The Age, in its editorial of October 17, also claimed that a new policy for dealing with high-speed pursuit has been under consideration by senior police for more than a month.
The Age has urged that any internal policy review should be opened up for public debate and that its results should be implemented as soon as possible.
The public debate that has been called for seems unlikely to occur.
Calls have also come from the police and elsewhere for the courts to take a firmer stand against adolescent car thieves and for schools to introduce programs to address the problem.
To the extent that the problem underlying high speed chases is adolescent joy-riding then there have been numerous calls for the supposed causes of adolescent disaffection to be addressed. These causes have been reported as ranging from the nature of popular entertainment, such as violent video games, through to the high incidence of family breakdown.
Many-sided social causes of the problem will be extremely difficult to overcome.
Finally there have been suggestions from the Police Association that motorists be encouraged to install some of the new, apparently fool-proof locking systems that are available.
Sources
The Age
16/10/95 page 1, news item by Tim Winkler, `Four people die in a high-speed pursuit and only driver of stolen car survives'
16/10/95 page 1, news item by Tim Winkler, `Chases will continue, say police'
16/10/95 page 4, news item by Tim Winkler, `The night that death came to Highway 1'
17/10/95 page 1, news item by Tim Winkler, `Chase police praised'
17/10/95 page 1, news item by Sushila Das, `"Kids are bad, but it didn't have to come to this"'
17/10/95 page 13, editorial, `The peril of the chase'
18/10/95 page 14, letter from Stephen Knorr, `Police pursuits must be reviewed'
19/9/95 page 4, news item by Tim Winkler, `Police defend strategy for car chase'
21/10/95 page 1, news item by Talbot and O'Connor, `A moment of a mother's pain'
22/10/95 page 14, comment by Terry Lane, `Police are there to protect lives, too'
22/10/95 page 1, analysis by Gary Tippet, `Death in the fast lane'
The Herald Sun
16/10/95 page 1 and 4, news item by Mark Buttler and Wayne Miller, `Innocent victims'
16/10/95 page 4, news item by Wayne Miller, `Six deaths'
17/10/95 pages 1 and 2, news item by Mark Buttler and tanya Giles, `Two young lives ruined'
17/10/95 page 8, news item by Michelle Poutney, `Chases a day-to-day problem'
17/10/95 pages 8 and 9, news item by Mark Buttler, Tanya Giles and Brad Newsome, `Cousins not coming home'
17/10/95 pages 8 and 9, comment by Frank Green, former Assistant Commissioner, `Damned if you do and damned if you don't'
17/10/95 page 12, editorial, `Revving up a time bomb'
18/10/95 page 3, news item by Tanya Giles, `Crash gran prays for help'
19/10/95 page 7, news item by Wayne Miller and Greg Dowling, `Crash ends 200km chase'
21/10/95 page 15 analysis by Terry Brown and Brad Newsome, `To chase or not to chase'
21/10/95 page 16 analysis by Terry Brown and Brad Newsome, `Police priority is to try to catch the thief'
21/10/95 page 16 news item, `Guidelines stress the need for safety'
21/10/95 pages 16 and 17, `Brushes with death in the fast lane'
21/10/95 page 17 news item, `Failure drives impulse'
What they said ...
`If you had a policy that said we are not going to chase stolen cars, it's an open invitation to every man and his dog to do what they want to with a car'
John Cheetham, child psychologist
`If my car is stolen I will be very angry with the thief and will wish him ill, but I do not want the police to chase him or shoot him ... as much as I love my car, it is not worth a single human life'
Terry Lane, Age columnist