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IPCC publishes major study on police road traffic incidents

INDEPENDENT POLICE COMPLAINTS COMMISSION News Release (PR 881) issued by The Government News Network on 18 September 2007

"Many of the police pursuits we deal with are of short duration and involve split-second decisions by officers. This emphasies the need for strong and clear regulation of this area of policing. The ACPO Guidance on pursuit driving should become compulsory rather than advisory as it is at present."

Independent Police Complaints Commission Chair Nick Hardwick was speaking at the launch in London of a new IPCC report on police-related driving incidents.

He continued: "About 40 people die each year in road traffic incidents involving the police. Many more than any other category of death following police contact. Most of these deaths occur as a result of police pursuits of young male drivers, many of whom are under the influence of drink or drugs. One in four cars was stolen, six in 10 had no insurance and one third were disqualified drivers.

"All of these pursuits are potentially risky and dangerous - for the drivers of the pursued vehicle, other road users and pedestrians and the police drivers themselves," he said.

The report 'Police Road Traffic Incidents: A Study of Cases Involving Serious and Fatal Injuries' examined all such incidents that caused serious and fatal injuries in the two and a half years from April 2004 to September 2006. It analyses the trends in the data and looks at the nature and circumstances of road traffic incidents (RTIs) in more depth. In addition, it aims to highlight any lessons that can be learnt for policy and practice to help prevent future incidents.

Key findings

Approximately 40 people die each year in RTIs involving the police with the majority of deaths being the result of a police pursuit. The total number of RTIs appears to be on an upward trend, with this reflected in the annual figures for 2004/05 (101) and 2005/06 (109.)

A total of 275 incidents were referred to the IPCC between April 2004 and September 2006. Of these, 192 were pursuit related, 33 were related to emergency response incidents and 50 to 'other' types of traffic activity. The incidents involved a total of 115 fatalities and 273 serious injuries, giving an average of one person killed and one person seriously injured per incident.

Forty per cent of those killed and 10% of those seriously injured were not wearing a seatbelt. Of those drivers tested, three in five (60%) were over the legal alcohol limit for driving. Thirty-five drivers were tested for drugs; of these people 57% tested positive and 40% tested negative.

The profile of the drivers shows that 100 (98%) of the 102 drivers in the sample were male. They had an average age of 24. Seven in 10 of the drivers were white (69%), 9% were Asian, 5% were black and 3% were of a mixed ethnicity. Data on ethnicity was not stated for 15% of the drivers.

Action

Nick Hardwick continued: "The current Association of Chief Police Officers' (ACPO) guidelines are sensible and provide strong boundaries to forces within which to conduct pursuits.

"ACPO should contact all forces to establish their position with regard to the guidelines. They should determine whether they have wholly, or partially, adopted them and to what extent they have implemented them.

"Given the variation in pursuit practice across forces, the Home Office and ACPO should consider codification of the ACPO guidelines. This would improve consistency and practice across police forces and may ultimately help to reduce the number of fatal and serious injuries arising from police pursuits," he said.

Motorcycles

The report is concerned that there were nine motorcycles or mini-motorcycles involved.

Nick Hardwick said: "The IPCC believes that pursuits of motorcycles can be particularly dangerous as the rider is much more vulnerable than a driver or occupant of a car, and the tactical options for bringing the pursuit to an end are very limited.

"Currently the danger is that officers initiate a pursuit, and without any tactics available to end it simply wait until 'something happens'. We recommend that these pursuits should be limited to instances where a serious crime has been committed and that ACPO should seek to define this more clearly in future revisions to the pursuit guidelines.

"Similarly, we are concerned that the use of police motorcycles, as the main vehicle in a pursuit, raises significant dangers for the officer who is riding it," he said.

Other Issues

The report takes issue with the management of many of the pursuits. It found instances where no attempt had been made to contact the control room, despite the ACPO guidelines stipulating that if there was no communication with the control room there should be no pursuit.

There were also limited risk assessments being conducted, if they were conducted at all. There was either late or no consideration of any tactics to resolve the pursuit. The pursuits in the sample most commonly ended with the pursued vehicle losing control and colliding with a wall or tree, another vehicle, or with street furniture.

The ACPO guidelines on the type and number of police vehicles that should be involved in a pursuit should be adhered to strictly. ACPO should revise the pursuit guidelines to state that vans and 4x4s, except where tactics require, 'must not' pursue (from the current 'should not' pursue) to highlight the point.

One third of police vehicles leading a pursuit have a data recorder ('black box') fitted. It is recommended that all such police vehicles should carry data recorders which should be regularly checked to ensure they are working accurately. Video recording cameras should be fitted to all vehicles used by traffic officers.

The report criticises the standard of many investigators' reports. Previous research has criticised RTI investigation reports for lacking information about the police drivers and stated that there should be greater consistency in terms of their content. The findings of this study indicate that they have not improved since the previous research was conducted.

The IPCC recommends a checklist should be used by investigating officers to ensure the quality and consistency of all investigations conducted, and to aid the identification of lessons that can be drawn from the incidents.

Emergency response driving

Emergency response incidents, when a police vehicle was responding to a call for immediate assistance, make up a small proportion of incidents examined in this study but are often more contentious.

Little research has been conducted into the nature of these incidents, as previous studies have tended to focus on police pursuits.

A total of 18 people were involved in the 13 incidents the research examined in depth. Nine were pedestrians, seven in a vehicle, one a cyclist and one a motorcyclist. All were white and five were killed. Twelve of the 13 police drivers were qualified to respond to emergency calls.

Three of the police vehicles were vans and one was a 4x4. The ACPO pursuit guidelines (2004) highlight the handling limitations of vans and 4x4 vehicles, and this is especially the case when these vehicles may have to deal at high speeds with bends and unexpected obstacles in an urban setting.

Police forces are recommended to ensure officers are made aware of the handling limitations of vans and 4x4s when traveling at high speeds. The report also warns police drivers of the danger of traveling in convoy and recommends the pursuit guidelines are considered in emergency response situations.

Calls for assistance are assessed by communication room staff and prioritised as necessary. Calls which are identified as an emergency are then graded (in some police forces) in terms of the response required and passed to officers on the ground to respond.

The decision on grading the type of response an emergency call should rest with the communication room and should always be clearly given to the police driver responding.

The current national standards determining the type of response that is necessary do not extend to emergency calls; they only provide one overarching category. Some police forces have devised their own sub-categories of emergency response, meaning that there is some inconsistency across forces. ACPO should therefore consider whether to amend the current standards to provide sub-categories of emergency response and appropriate guidance as to the type of responses required.

* Police Road Traffic Incidents: A Study of Cases Involving Serious and Fatal Injuries. Independent Police Complaints Commission. Laid before Parliament by the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to Section 11(3) of the Police Reform Act 2002. Ordered by The House of Commons to be printed 26? July 2007. ISBN 0-9552083-6-x, 978-0-9552083-6-2

The report can be downloaded at http://www.ipcc.gov.uk or is available from IPCC, 90 High Holborn, London WC1V 6BH, tel: 020-7166 3000.