Police pursuit policy must not be reviewed just by police

A promise by Premier David Crisafulli at yesterday’s Qld Police Union conference  that the government  “ was supportive” of changing  Qld Police  pursuit policy has been attacked by the Civil Liberties Council.

Qld Council for Civil Liberties Vice President , Terry O’Gorman, said the policy was introduced in 2011 and progressively refined since then after the deaths of 22 people and 689 people being injured in the10 years between 2000 and 2009 during or following a police pursuit in Qld.( see C-M 3/8/26  “ pursuit policy revised” p3).

Mr. O’ Gorman said the policy has been supported by a succession of Qld Police Commissioners and had been curated and refined by a number of Coroner recommendations as welll as two major reviews conducted by the CCC.

Mr.O’Gorman said the Premier’s proposal to change the pursuit policy by working with police saying police shouldn’t be “second guessing whether or not they are able to do their jobs” shows his lack of grasp  and understanding for why the current pursuit policy exists.

“ The very reason for the current policy is to have senior officers at the police radio base second guessing whether the chase should be undertaken primarily by assessing the level of risk a chase  poses to members of the public,” Mr.O’Gorman said

“ Front line police including inexperienced officers need to have police chases monitored in real time by senior police to rein in gung-ho officers from continuing dangerous pursuits  where the risk of death or injury to other road users is disproportionate to the offence which is the  subject of the chase,” Mr.O’Gorman said.

Mr. O’Gorman said consultation about any changes to the policy should not be restricted to police.

“ Giving police the only or major say over police pursuit policy ignores the fact that it has been experts such as Coroners and theCCC outside of theQPS who identified the excessive number of innocent citizens being killed and injured by inappropriate police chases where the problem had not been properly addressed by the Senior Executive  Service of the QPS,” Mr.O’Gorman said.

“ There have been two major reviews by the Crime and Corruption Commission in 2003 and 2011 which found that many  pursuits began because of comparatively minor traffic offences, not serious violent crime,” Mr.O’Gorman said.

The Premier should institute a review of police pursuit policy by giving a referral to the CCC to carry out the  review.The CCC can consult with experts  and Coroners as to whether any changes to the current police chase policy is needed.

“ Giving the  police the inside running on such an important public policy matter simply to answer a Qld Police Union wish list  would be dangerous and counterproductive,” Mr.OGorman said.