ALEX ROA/WhakatÄ ne Beacon
A stolen vehicle driver rammed into an unmarked police car in Whakatane in March.
Police officers report a change in pursuit policy prioritizing safety over arrests could lead to more police cars being rammed, with offenders believing this will force the police to stop the chase.
Figures show that between January and 16 August this year, 105 police cars were rammed across New Zealand. May was particularly bad with 27 cars rammed. The damage cost police nearly $200,000 in insurance claim payouts from May to August.
Obviously, youths are rammed into stolen cars trying to evade police, officers rammed during routine traffic checks, as well as some incidents without any provocation. In one incident, a ute was signaled to stop in South Auckland, but the driver backed up at high speed into the front of the police car.
Police say it’s symptomatic of a general increase in aggression against officers.
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Assistant Commissioner Richard Chambers said police stopped thousands of cars every day, and only a few of those cases resulted in a collision with a police car.
“Using a vehicle as a weapon against police personnel or any other member of the public is totally unacceptable… it endangers our people, and it endangers the public – as well as those in the vehicle.”
Chambers said he hadn’t heard staff concerns directly about cars being rammed, but staff had reported that more people seemed willing to use aggression to try to resolve their situation.
“The situations they’re dealing with are more volatile, there’s more aggression,” he said.
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Most incidents where an assailant rammed into a police car resulted in an arrest and charges, Chambers said.
Young people, too young to have a driver’s license, also rammed into police cars, further worrying police.
“What I see is a lot of young people making bad decisions, and at that point I don’t believe they’re thinking about their future.”
Police association president Chris Cahill said the association was concerned about the “ever-increasing” number of police cars being rammed.
“The behavior puts our members at increasing risk and many of the incidents could have resulted in death, but for good luck on the part of the officer.”
Anecdotally, officers told Cahill that the chase policy had changed the behavior of offenders and could potentially lead to more ramming, as offenders believed it would make the police stop the chase.
“It is worrying whether this is the case and the increased risks need to be understood, but we have to accept that the revised policy has led to a drastic reduction in the number of deaths from accidents involving fleeing drivers,” Cahill said.
“We think it is important that the seriousness of these actions is reflected in the charges that the police are bringing against offenders. The effects of officers and their whānau can be long lasting and more than just physical.”
Under police revised policy for fleeing driversreleased in December 2020 after a series of fatal car chasessafety was prioritized over catching offenders immediately.
Under the new policy, officers were told to chase only if the threat arose “outweighs the risk of damage from the pursuit”. Instead, they should try to identify the vehicle and arrest the driver later.
The policy is being revised again.