Father whose daughter died in police pursuit slams relaxing of rules
A man whose daughter was killed in a car that fled from police says encouraging more pursuits is madness.
Two years after tightening the rules around pursuing fleeing vehicles, police are now moving to relax them again.
Most drivers who failed to stop for police have not been getting caught – but parents who have had children killed in these high-speed chases said the cost of an arrest was just too high.
Tony Jarvis’ daughter Karleane Magon was a passenger in a car that fled from police. She was killed in 2010, at 20 years old.
“Seventy people have died in that 10-year period since I lost my girl. Which you know that’s not just 70 people have died, it’s been 70 families have died,” Jarvis said.
“Not just my girl died, I died on that day.”
Encouraging more pursuits was madness, Jarvis said, particularly given the death of a fleeing driver in Dunedin just two days ago.
“The police know all these decades of police pursuits, the amount of innocent people that have died, and yet, in the face of a tragedy in the weekend, they’re upping their police pursuits and hoping for a different outcome? That’s insanity.”
Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said the new rules balanced safety and holding offenders to account.
They also factored in the further harm an offender could cause if they were not apprehended, he said.
“Whether we’re pursuing or not, there is a risk to the public,” he said.
The changes have been forced by the media’s never ending love affair with ram raiding clickbait. The public have been whipped into a frenzy of youth crime fear (despite there being less than 100 youth ram raiders, 80% of whom are known to welfare agencies) and have demanded ‘something be done’.
So things are being done.
The Police chase policy was modified after they found their toll trained drivers see red mist and continue pursuit even when it is dangerous and causes crashes.
Social policy that continues to kill at the high rate the police chase policy did has to be challenged and modified.
67 people died during police pursuits between 2009 and 2018.
You can’t have almost 70 people dying in a decade due to police chases and call that policy successful!
People shouldn’t die from social policy.
Right now however the public are frightened by youth ram raiders, so Police have to say they have changed their chase policy.
And that position will hold, right up until they chase some kids to death or they smash into innocent people.
Then the policy will be immediately reviewed.
This is window dressing policy to look like something is being done, which is what you can also say about the new powers being hyped as a means to shut down youth criminals…
Police handed harsher enforcement tools to deal with fleeing drivers
Police Minister Chris Hipkins and Minister of Justice Kiri Allan said the laws are changing so police have more enforcement options when dealing with dangerous drivers.
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- Increase the maximum driver licence disqualification period for a second offence of failing to stop or remain stopped, from 12 months to between 12 and 24 months
- Amend the Sentencing Act 2002 so a vehicle can be forfeited on conviction for failing to stop. Offenders could have their vehicle permanently removed, and would not get any proceeds from the sale back
- Allow police to impound a vehicle for 28 days if the owner fails, refuses, or provides false or misleading information about the identity of a driver from a fleeing driver event.
…this impacts fleeing drivers but being sold as a solution to the ram raids and being used to counter the ‘soft-on-crime’ narrative the Opposition have generated about predictable youth crime post a universal traumatic experience like Covid.
I will hazard a guess that most ram raiders aren’t driving their own car so threats of impounding or taking the vehicle they have stolen for their crime is not really much of a threat.
It’s less ‘soft-on-crime’ and more ‘modestly-helpful-against-crime’.
Our poorly trained Police will immediately fall into the same ‘red mist’ mindset when pursuing offenders and the evidence showing they stopped listening to HQ and were chasing right up until the offender dies will all be hidden from the public and only come out during coroner reports.
People are frightened, and angry most decisions made when people are frightened and angry don’t work well.
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Not chasing criminals means more drivers fleeing justice. It is the lack of consequences that cause the drivers to speed away.
I think what’s worse is announcement is not what it seemed. I dont want to disappoint but having listened to Coster and reading between the fudged lines , it’s a deeply cynical piece of political window dressing in the truest sense of this government. Very little, it appears, has changed or will change but it will give the false facade Labour are taking law and order seriously.
Is part of the head of a government departments remit nowadays to act as a mouth piece to the applicable minister to pretend bad news away?
Unfortunately, the auto industry has already unveiled the “solution”: remote-controlled kill switches in new vehicles.
Then consider the recent Ford patent, which allows computer-controlled automobiles to be forcibly ‘driven-by-wire’ back to the Ford dealership, ostensibly for repossession purposes. And the revelation in the Wikileaks Vault 7 documents, that the C.I.A. can already use wireless intrusion on certain auto electronics, in order to remotely pilot cars into a wall at 100 m.p.h.
The solution is tough policing with existing laws, not destroying our civil liberties. There must be bi-partisan efforts to protect the right to travel.
There is real anger and fear about these ram raids and armed thefts. If the police are not seen to be doing something the alternative will be scared shopkeepers fearing for their lives arming themselves and shooting first when confronted with criminals. There is no easy solution.
Yes we are all full of bravado, but how often do you hear from people that lost loved ones in these pursuits? There’s no doubt it’s a conundrum in terms of reduced apprehending but is the cost justified? Surely you need more training of frontline staff. They are no more capable as drivers than average NZers.
Not much point in chasing these young offenders when we have a “Catch and Release Policy” by the current Labour Government and a woke Judiciary ???
They will just jump back in their cars probably stolen and do it all over again, I hear through the grapevine it is a hell of a lot of fun.
Martyn – Remove the legal protection, or reduce its coverage for the Police – so they can be jailed for killing people or serious injuring people on the job..
Firstly condolences to whanau who lost family members irrelevant of the cause or blame.
However, the police should not be blamed in my opinion – they are just enforcing the law for a government ministry of justice. I might be on a 5 minute park for too long – it is not the parking officers fault that I have infringed. I know my example doesn’t deal with life but it shows where all responsibility sits. Sometimes it is just black & white.
Perhaps also and it may sound harsh but as a parent I kept an eye on my kids and their friends constantly with other parents. Even now with them away from home I still watch and make sure they don’t make that one error that stuffs their life or someone else’s. I speak to them a lot about bad decisions and consequences and guide them through things I can – also to avoid the stupid things I did as a child. Parenting is at the basis of this in my opinion. Perhaps parents have a point that we have lost community and an ability to parent due to todays demands in society?
Another note – I think many police need a lot more training behind the wheel – I have seen some shockers ironically when they are not chasing and would hate to see them chasing.
Police officers should be allowed to use best judgement in these situations.
Apparently there are now so many more people driving off as they know they will not be pursued by police. Thus escalating crime by allowing it to increase and thus increasing the amount of potential victims.
Just like burglary and home invasions, it is now pretty much ok to do those in NZ. Sadly home invasions are getting to the point where they are also killing their victim as they are so entitled.
So. With the popo buying electric BMWs at $100k each. Will they be the new chase cars? If so, what do they cost to repair after a crash?
Repair cost? Mostly none. Chase crashes damage is usually too severe. EVd must be written off if any damage to battery unit can not be excluded.
In the (hope will not happen) case of crash damaging structural integrity of battery housing and internals, it will self-ignite and burn extremely vigorously, releasing vast amount of energy, it’s own Oxygen for burning and a range of very toxic byproducts. Same if penetrated by projectile (criminals seem to be armed and trigger happy theses days).
I do not envy Police officers usind EVs.
Well, they won’t be doing that again…
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/109902537/three-dead-in-christchurch-crash
How could Hipkins and Kiwi Allan allow this to happen.
They had the opportunity to read “The Hollow Men”. Yet, what message did they take from that book?
The opinion piece demonstrates why police action is necessary and explains that police action has consequences. Spare a thought for the police officer in his eBMW and his dilemma.
The truly innocent people are those effected by ram raids and other lawlessness the shop owners and staff and drivers hit by fleeing drivers. Rather than chases on the roads we need more cameras in towns big and small and kill switches in all cars.
Surely all vehicles are registered, so once Police have recorded the licence plate, they can safely break off the pursuit and then arrest the registered owners at their leisure. Isn’t that how registries work?
That does not help of the car is stolen and then burnt
The Police are in an impossible position which is totally not of their making. We need to be very specific in who we blame for the dangers involved in police pusuits: the blame rests 100% on the fleeing driver, absolutely no one else. Just how much the police response adds to, or reduces, those dangers is totally unpredictable, and therefore impossible to specify a one-size fits all ‘safe’ response.
If police are feeling ‘got at’ by media, it is up to them to turn on their adult sides, explain the situation and cool the frenzy – do a ‘this is how it is out there’ piece, and release their statement with stats and what moves they can take to stem the problem. But point out contributing factors. And fund more Wellington Paranormal.
And could they find a way of defusing stand-offs, get people to sit and hold their arms out and not move while they talk or whatever. Talk to people – allow them to state their problem for two minutes. Defuse the situation while assessing it. Ask them what they would like to do next as a way of getting their culprit’s brain working. Then tell them to keep their hands up and come forward or something like that. Bad language and insulting police inot be excuse for violence. Perhaps tranquiliser guns suitable for people could be used when needed , tasers rare. Cannabis legalised so not used as excuse for getting heavy.
Just let the bad guys get away. It’s a sound plan and no one will get hurt.
Do we really want people being killed because we want them chased down for breaking the law. This is absolutely nuts and I am deeply disappointed in Coster.
Kids – as we know many of them are just want to get one over the police, just let them go, they have not murdered anyone or raped anyone, their misdemeanours will be incredibly minor and certainly not the cost of a life.
I never want the police to be able to make up their mind on the spot, far too many of them are gungho about all of this and in for the thrill of the chase.
I disagree. Let them get away and there is no consequences for their crime so next time it could be a worst crime . They will not die if they do not run we are not the States
Could double tragic fines and send it to the vehicle owner who can then say who was driving. But some criminals the police will have to chase it’s getting into an all out road war for petty Crimes is a bit unintelligible.