Canterbury Police District accepts the findings of an IPCA report into the pursuit of a fleeing driver suspected to be a drug courier.
The IPCA finds that officers were justified in their initial pursuit of a BMW, which regrettably ended in a collision between the BMW and a vehicle driven by a member of the public.
Three elderly occupants in that vehicle received serious injuries, along with two occupants in the BMW.
Canterbury District Commander Superintendent John Price says valuable lessons have been learned from the incident:
“While we fully accept the IPCA report and have implemented its recommendations, Police always have to balance efforts to stop criminal activity with the paramount importance of public safety.
“Police undertook the operation in 2014 to prevent drugs entering the community and apprehend the offenders involved. The collision was an unintended and very unfortunate outcome. As noted in the IPCA report, we considered that if our suspects were to reach their destination, it would have enabled them to destroy evidence.
“Police will use force to the extent where it is necessary to secure observance of the law.
“As the IPCA report also notes, the BMW driver was given opportunities to stop, but chose not to. The report also details that the driver later admitted that he was trying to get away from the Police van.
“However the IPCA report highlights shortcomings in planning and co-ordination leading up to the collision.
“We accept this and have implemented all the IPCA recommendations, and have already made several changes to local practice before today’s report.”
These include:
• The practices of the Canterbury Organised Crime Unit (OCU) have been updated.
• It is now standard practice for Police Communication Centre ‘SouthComms’ and the District Command Centre to be advised of all OCU operations.
• There is now better communication with Christchurch Airport and Airport Police, and a plan in place for managing operations at the airport.
• Supervision of major operations are to be managed at DSS level, and operational planning and log-keeping practices have been updated.
• The officer in charge of the Canterbury OCU will be advised of all incidents where Armed Offenders Squad (AOS) assistance is sought.
• There are now closer links between staff working in AOS and OCU roles has improved understanding of AOS operating practices and tactics.
• An officer is appointed to oversee the health of safety of officers and the public during major operations.
“I am confident my teams will follow these protocols in order to keep themselves and the public safe, whilst ensuring that offenders continue to be held to account,” says Mr Price.
In June this year, the BMW driver pleaded guilty to a number of charges in relation to the crash:
• Five counts of recklessly driving causing injury.
• One count of failing to stop for Police.
• One count of wounding with intent to injure.
He was sentenced to 3 years and 2 months in prison and disqualified from driving for 18 months. He was also ordered to pay reparation to each occupant of the vehicle which the BMW collided with.
A female occupant of the BMW pleaded guilty to one charge of possessing methamphetamine with intent to supply. She was sentenced to 3 months’ community detention and 2 years’ intensive supervision.
ENDS
Issued by Police Media Centre