Right: an Australian-built Ford police interceptor, made for the American police market, where police pursuits are just as controversial as they are in other countries. Found a word you're not familiar with? Double-click that word to bring up a dictionary reference to it. The dictionary page includes an audio sound file with which to actually hear the word said. |
Further implications
High speed police pursuits appear to pose a difficult dilemma in many jurisdictions. The belief is held by both the broader community and the police that pursuit powers are necessary if felons are not to be allowed to act with impunity.
A series of studies outlining those most commonly pursued by police does not support the view that it is serious felons who are most often chased. Those pursued are most likely to be relatively minor offenders, often being chased after having committed a traffic infringement. Such findings have led to a number of groups and individuals to call for the banning of police pursuits, especially in the light of further statistics that indicate more deaths result from police pursuits than from police use of firearms.
There are, however, more moderate responses that can be adopted. Rather than banning all pursuits, it is possible to adopt a policy such as that employed in Tasmania since 2000 which requires that police only pursue motorists believed to have committed a serious crime. The policy adopted in Tasmania appears to have been successful as there have been no deaths or injuries resulting from police pursuits since its adoption and crimes such as car theft have fallen. Critics of the policy argue that despite its apparent success it would be less applicable to more populous states such as Victoria and New South Wales. Interestingly, Queensland has recently adopted a more restrictive policy similar to Tasmania.
There is no easy solution to the problem posed by high-speed police chases as it is very difficult for police to know what a motorist driving erratically or suspiciously may have done. The conservative policy adopted in Tasmania would seem to inevitably allow for the possibility that a number of criminals who have committed serious crimes will not be pursued because the police will not have sufficient grounds on which to give chase.
Perhaps the ultimate answer lies with high tech devices such as immobilisers which give police a safer means of halting a fleeing vehicle. At the moment however limited reliability and availability mean that such devices do not represent a solution to the problem.
There are currently calls for uniform pursuit laws across Australia. Given that fleeing motorists often cross state boundaries this makes sense; however, the difference between some state policies makes nationally agreed procedures not immediately likely.