INDEPENDENT POLICE
COMPLAINTS COMMISSION News Release (PR 881) issued by The Government
News Network on 18 September 2007
"Many of the
police pursuits we deal with are of short duration and involve
split-second decisions by officers. This emphasies the need for
strong and clear regulation of this area of policing. The ACPO
Guidance on pursuit driving should become compulsory rather than
advisory as it is at present."
Independent Police Complaints Commission Chair Nick Hardwick was
speaking at the launch in London of a new IPCC report on
police-related driving incidents.
He continued: "About 40 people die each year in road traffic
incidents involving the police. Many more than any other category
of death following police contact. Most of these deaths occur as a
result of police pursuits of young male drivers, many of whom are
under the influence of drink or drugs. One in four cars was
stolen, six in 10 had no insurance and one third were disqualified drivers.
"All of these pursuits are potentially risky and dangerous -
for the drivers of the pursued vehicle, other road users and
pedestrians and the police drivers themselves," he said.
The report 'Police Road Traffic Incidents: A Study of Cases
Involving Serious and Fatal Injuries' examined all such
incidents that caused serious and fatal injuries in the two and a
half years from April 2004 to September 2006. It analyses the
trends in the data and looks at the nature and circumstances of
road traffic incidents (RTIs) in more depth. In addition, it aims
to highlight any lessons that can be learnt for policy and
practice to help prevent future incidents.
Key findings
Approximately 40 people die each year in RTIs involving the
police with the majority of deaths being the result of a police
pursuit. The total number of RTIs appears to be on an upward
trend, with this reflected in the annual figures for 2004/05 (101)
and 2005/06 (109.)
A total of 275 incidents were referred to the IPCC between April
2004 and September 2006. Of these, 192 were pursuit related, 33
were related to emergency response incidents and 50 to
'other' types of traffic activity. The incidents
involved a total of 115 fatalities and 273 serious injuries,
giving an average of one person killed and one person seriously
injured per incident.
Forty per cent of those killed and 10% of those seriously injured
were not wearing a seatbelt. Of those drivers tested, three in
five (60%) were over the legal alcohol limit for driving.
Thirty-five drivers were tested for drugs; of these people 57%
tested positive and 40% tested negative.
The profile of the drivers shows that 100 (98%) of the 102
drivers in the sample were male. They had an average age of 24.
Seven in 10 of the drivers were white (69%), 9% were Asian, 5%
were black and 3% were of a mixed ethnicity. Data on ethnicity was
not stated for 15% of the drivers.
Action
Nick Hardwick continued: "The current Association of Chief
Police Officers' (ACPO) guidelines are sensible and provide
strong boundaries to forces within which to conduct pursuits.
"ACPO should contact all forces to establish their position
with regard to the guidelines. They should determine whether they
have wholly, or partially, adopted them and to what extent they
have implemented them.
"Given the variation in pursuit practice across forces, the
Home Office and ACPO should consider codification of the ACPO
guidelines. This would improve consistency and practice across
police forces and may ultimately help to reduce the number of
fatal and serious injuries arising from police pursuits," he said.
Motorcycles
The report is concerned that there were nine motorcycles or
mini-motorcycles involved.
Nick Hardwick said: "The IPCC believes that pursuits of
motorcycles can be particularly dangerous as the rider is much
more vulnerable than a driver or occupant of a car, and the
tactical options for bringing the pursuit to an end are very limited.
"Currently the danger is that officers initiate a pursuit,
and without any tactics available to end it simply wait until
'something happens'. We recommend that these pursuits
should be limited to instances where a serious crime has been
committed and that ACPO should seek to define this more clearly in
future revisions to the pursuit guidelines.
"Similarly, we are concerned that the use of police
motorcycles, as the main vehicle in a pursuit, raises significant
dangers for the officer who is riding it," he said.
Other Issues
The report takes issue with the management of many of the
pursuits. It found instances where no attempt had been made to
contact the control room, despite the ACPO guidelines stipulating
that if there was no communication with the control room there
should be no pursuit.
There were also limited risk assessments being conducted, if they
were conducted at all. There was either late or no consideration
of any tactics to resolve the pursuit. The pursuits in the sample
most commonly ended with the pursued vehicle losing control and
colliding with a wall or tree, another vehicle, or with street furniture.
The ACPO guidelines on the type and number of police vehicles
that should be involved in a pursuit should be adhered to
strictly. ACPO should revise the pursuit guidelines to state that
vans and 4x4s, except where tactics require, 'must not'
pursue (from the current 'should not' pursue) to
highlight the point.
One third of police vehicles leading a pursuit have a data
recorder ('black box') fitted. It is recommended that
all such police vehicles should carry data recorders which should
be regularly checked to ensure they are working accurately. Video
recording cameras should be fitted to all vehicles used by traffic officers.
The report criticises the standard of many investigators'
reports. Previous research has criticised RTI investigation
reports for lacking information about the police drivers and
stated that there should be greater consistency in terms of their
content. The findings of this study indicate that they have not
improved since the previous research was conducted.
The IPCC recommends a checklist should be used by investigating
officers to ensure the quality and consistency of all
investigations conducted, and to aid the identification of lessons
that can be drawn from the incidents.
Emergency response driving
Emergency response incidents, when a police vehicle was
responding to a call for immediate assistance, make up a small
proportion of incidents examined in this study but are often more contentious.
Little research has been conducted into the nature of these
incidents, as previous studies have tended to focus on police pursuits.
A total of 18 people were involved in the 13 incidents the
research examined in depth. Nine were pedestrians, seven in a
vehicle, one a cyclist and one a motorcyclist. All were white and
five were killed. Twelve of the 13 police drivers were qualified
to respond to emergency calls.
Three of the police vehicles were vans and one was a 4x4. The
ACPO pursuit guidelines (2004) highlight the handling limitations
of vans and 4x4 vehicles, and this is especially the case when
these vehicles may have to deal at high speeds with bends and
unexpected obstacles in an urban setting.
Police forces are recommended to ensure officers are made aware
of the handling limitations of vans and 4x4s when traveling at
high speeds. The report also warns police drivers of the danger of
traveling in convoy and recommends the pursuit guidelines are
considered in emergency response situations.
Calls for assistance are assessed by communication room staff and
prioritised as necessary. Calls which are identified as an
emergency are then graded (in some police forces) in terms of the
response required and passed to officers on the ground to respond.
The decision on grading the type of response an emergency call
should rest with the communication room and should always be
clearly given to the police driver responding.
The current national standards determining the type of response
that is necessary do not extend to emergency calls; they only
provide one overarching category. Some police forces have devised
their own sub-categories of emergency response, meaning that there
is some inconsistency across forces. ACPO should therefore
consider whether to amend the current standards to provide
sub-categories of emergency response and appropriate guidance as
to the type of responses required.
* Police Road Traffic Incidents: A Study of Cases Involving
Serious and Fatal Injuries. Independent Police Complaints
Commission. Laid before Parliament by the Secretary of State for
the Home Department pursuant to Section 11(3) of the Police Reform
Act 2002. Ordered by The House of Commons to be printed 26? July
2007. ISBN 0-9552083-6-x, 978-0-9552083-6-2
The report can be downloaded at http://www.ipcc.gov.uk or is
available from IPCC, 90 High Holborn, London WC1V 6BH, tel:
020-7166 3000.