Source: New Zealand Police (District News)
Police acknowledge the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) findings released today regarding the use of force following a pursuit in Auckland.
In the early hours of 11 December 2018, officers responded to a ram-raid burglary at a Te Atatū business.
Two vehicles were located after fleeing the scene, with the occupants of one vehicle taken into custody shortly afterward.
The second vehicle was monitored by Police and eventually failed to stop, before being observed by Eagle driving extremely recklessly throughout the pursuit.
This included often being driven at excessive speed, driving on the wrong side of the road, and narrowly avoiding colliding head on with a member of the public.
Spikes were successfully deployed during the incident. Police took the vehicle’s occupants into custody at the Mt Wellington off-ramp after the vehicle was blocked in.
The IPCA found the initiation and continuation of the pursuit to be justified, in line with the fleeing driver policy that was in place back in 2018.
Police accept the IPCA’s finding that officers’ use of force in extracting the remaining occupant through a window was unjustified. It also found the use of nudge bars was outside of policy.
Superintendent Naila Hassan, Waitematā District Commander, says the driver’s actions in continuing to flee Police after the burglary posed a serious risk to the public.
“Staff responding to this incident had good intentions about stopping a vehicle that was continuing to engage in high risk behaviour,” says Superintendent Hassan.
“However, we accept the IPCA’s findings in relation to the use of force at the conclusion of the pursuit.
“Police is an organisation that is always committed to learning. In this instance there were several lessons learned for the staff involved in this matter.”
ENDS.
Jarred Williamson/NZ Police
