Officers breached policy during fatal pursuit in Christchurch, but did not cause the crash
The Independent Police Conduct Authority has found that Police officers breached aspects of Police policy while pursuing a motorcycle in Christchurch on 20 August 2023. The pursuit ended in a fatal crash.
At around 11:40pm, Mr Z rode his motorcycle at speed past two Police officers who were in a marked Police car at a service station on Shirley Road. The officers decided to stop Mr Z.
The officers caught up to Mr Z as he was turning from Hills Road onto Edgeware Road and signalled him to stop. Mr Z looked back at Police and accelerated away from them. The officers pursued Mr Z for 12-14 seconds. They deactivated their lights and sirens moments before Mr Z rode through a red traffic light and crashed into the side of a car that had entered the intersection from his left. Mr Z died at the scene. The driver of the car received moderate injuries.
The Authority found that while the officers were catching up to Mr Z, they should have activated the Police car's lights and siren to warn any motorists or pedestrians. The Authority also found that, despite there being no justification to pursue Mr Z, the officers were pursuing Mr Z on Edgeware Road.
Despite these policy breaches, the Authority is satisfied the officers' actions were not the cause of the crash.
The current 'Fleeing driver' policy does not explicitly include the use of motorcycles as a consideration in fleeing driver events. The Authority recommended Police include the use of motorcycles as a known risk in policy, and that any decision to pursue a motorcyclist should only be made in the most extreme circumstances.
