[Greens-Media] Media Release: Another dangerous NSW police pursuit and police must explain why it happened

[David Shoebridge MLC]

*Media Release: Another dangerous NSW police pursuit and police must
explain why it happened*



*Date: 24 February 2014*



Another dangerous NSW police pursuit has ended with innocent third parties
in hospital and many lives put at risk and there is still no clear reason
given by police about why they engaged in the pursuit in the first place.
NSW police engage in far and away the most dangerous police pursuits of any
police force in Australia and in the vast majority of cases what triggers
the pursuit is a traffic offence.



Greens MP and Police Spokesperson David Shoebridge said:



"NSW has far and away the most police chases of any state in Australia, and
the risks and dangers they create for police, offenders and innocent
bystanders are not being properly considered.



"Initial reports suggest that this most recent chase has injured more than
6 people, a number of them seriously, and there is no clear reason given by
police<https://www.police.nsw.gov.au/news/latest_releases?sq_content_src=%2BdXJsPWh0dHBzJTNBJTJGJTJGZWJpenByZC5wb2xpY2UubnN3Lmdvdi5hdSUyRm1lZGlhJTJGMzYwMTIuaHRtbCZhbGw9MQ%3D%3D>about
why the chase started in the first place.



"NSW police owe the community a full and frank public explanation for why
this dangerous car chase started in the first place.



"Figures obtain from police by the
Greens<http://davidshoebridge.org.au/2014/02/11/dangerous-police-pursuits-for-minor-traffic-offences-time-it-ended-in-nsw/>show
that the majority of NSW police car chases result from what are often
minor traffic infringements that then escalate into serious and
life-threatening police pursuits.



"Other police forces around the world are winding back on dangerous chases
for minor offences and NSW is stubbornly bucking that trend.



"The NSW Police Minister needs to explain why NSW police are ignoring the
best evidence and escalating often minor offences into deadly high speed
chases.



"A police pursuit should only be undertaken on the basis of the seriousness
of the initial alleged offence, rather than on subsequent traffic
violations.



"Clearly there are cases where pursuits are needed to catch a serious
criminal or a person fleeing the scene of a violent crime, but this isn't
the case for the majority of police chases in NSW.



"With the technology available to modern police such as in-car police
cameras, polair and comprehensive on-line databases, nine times out of ten
non-violent offenders can be far more safely and easily arrested by police
when they return home than through a high speed chase.



"NSW needs to learn from jurisdictions in the US as well as Queensland and
Tasmania where police chases are only undertaken to chase serious
offenders," Mr Shoebridge said.



*Media contact: 0408 113 952*





*David Shoebridge*

*Greens MP in the NSW Legislative Council*

*P:** (02) 9230 3030 **|**T: @ShoebridgeMLC
<http://twitter.com/#!/shoebridgemlc>*