MCC of NSW Policy Brief: Police Pursuits

Summary

On the basis of the empirical evidence, there is absolutely no justification for not reducing the frequency of police pursuits. Retrospective analysis of a restrictive pursuit policy in Miami - which restricted police pursuit to `violent felons' - concluded there were no negative effects of the policy. In fact, the policy resulted in an 82 per cent reduction in injuries, with no increase in crime or frequency of suspects endeavouring to evade police using motor vehicles. This evidence is augmented by findings from the Falcone report.
The failure of police to adequately provide information pertaining to pursuits is of substantial concern to the MCC of NSW. The MCC calls on the NSW Police Service to make its pursuit policy available to stakeholders. In addition, the statistical methodology of pursuit policy outcomes is deficient. Consequently, the NSW Police Service should make its statistics and methodology publicly available, as such information is an essential source for policy analysis and informed discussion amongst stakeholders.

Overview: CMC Report
One of the few statistics specifically relevant to motorcyclists is that, of the vehicles pursued by the Queensland Police Service (QPS) in the five years to 2002, 23 per cent were motorcycles. Unfortunately, the rest of the information concerns vehicles in general.
For every seven pursuits, one person is injured. Around 17 per cent of the injured were third parties, and 29 per cent were police officers. In total, little more than half of the injuries were suffered by offenders or their passengers. Moreover, around 72 per cent of the deaths of offenders resulted from pursuits initiated for driving infringements. This is particularly unacceptable given that police would have been able to identify the driver after the pursuit in most cases, as only 18 per cent of these deaths were of drivers (or passengers) of stolen vehicles.
The Perth study found that in 50 per cent of cases, the reason for initiating a pursuit was a traffic offence. In 34 per cent of the cases, the pursuit ended in a crash or collision. The South Australian report found that around 96 per cent of pursued drivers were engaged in a police pursuit following traffic infringements. Of these drivers, 45 per cent were unlicensed and an additional 11 per cent held provisional or learner licences. In general, many of the pursuits involved unlicensed drivers, or drivers under the influence of drugs and alcohol. The CMC report stated that:
The main conclusion of the study was that high-speed pursuits usually involve people who represent a high risk on the road under normal conditions. This risk was considered to be inflated with the addition of a high-speed pursuit.
Concern Regarding Pursuit Procedures and Statistical Methodology
The CMC report raises a range of concerns for the MCC of NSW. Notably, in regard to NSW Police Service pursuit procedures, the MCC notes there is insufficient information regarding current policies, and such lack of information substantially limits the capacity of stakeholders to be effectively involved in policy formulation and analysis. In particular, to properly analyse the operational procedures of the NSW Police Service, the MCC and other stakeholders require knowledge of the New South Wales equivalent of the QPS Operational Procedures Manual.
In addition to the operational procedures of the NSW Police Service, there exists too little publicly available statistical information available to stakeholders and, in particular, insufficient information regarding offending motorcyclists involved in pursuits. While this is an inadequate situation generally, the lack of consideration for motorcyclists in policy terms is indicative of the conventional lack of regard for the welfare of motorcyclists.
In addition, the MCC notes that the QPS statistical methodology was found lacking, and requests the NSW Police Service assess its statistical methodology and make that report available to stakeholders.
The MCC believes that better collection and analysis of statistics is required, and that such statistics and methodology be more readily available to stakeholders. Such information should be accessible not more than six (6) months after collection and free of charge. This accessibility of information accords with public sector standards of accountability and transparency.

Conclusion
From the perspective of the MCC of NSW, the most worrying conclusions of the CMC report are:
1. The inability of the QPS to apply sound statistical methodology. This unacceptable lack of commitment to statistical analysis substantially impairs the capacity of the QPS and stakeholders to engage in informed dialogue, and detracts from the potential for informed policy analysis. The NSW Police Service should ensure that its statistical methodology is sound, and that the information is publicly available.
2. While the CMC report is concerning in general, it offers little insight into policies of police pursuit as little attention is given to the incidents involving motorcycles. Given that 23 per cent of pursued vehicles are motorcycles, this is a particularly disturbing oversight. In general, however, the oversight is indicative of the lack of attention given to motorcyclists when considering public policy.
3. On the basis of the empirical evidence, there is absolutely no justification for not reducing the frequency of police pursuits. Police pursuits are generally initiated for minor infringements, which are not worth the exceptionally high risk to life and limb.

Author: Matthew Ericson
Date: 28 December 2004