Thames Police Facebook Campaign Disgusts

PICK group

Prevent Insane Chase Killing Group say Polices latest spin campaign to defend their reckless policy is distasteful and disrespectful in the wake of the deaths of 3 innocent passengers in a vehicle pursued by Police. The facebook poster seeking likes as a means to blame the victims, and to remove accountability from Police is emblazoned with the words "Be a backseat hero, don't let a mate flee a police car".

But survivors tell repeated stories of their ignored pleas to fleeing drivers to stop - it fails. Group Spokeswoman Rachael Ford says that at a time many jurisdictions have called time on Police chases, due to the fact they cause more harm than good to society, per many scientific reviews of the pro's and cons', NZ decision-makers are upping the anti.

"They want to continue with a failed and outdated approach that causes deaths and injuries to thousands of innocent bystanders - it breaches the Bill of Rights mandate under the right to life to protect citizens lives from lethal state policies - Police are law breaking".

Polices lust to issue tickets for minor offences in their prime hunting grounds of Waikato and South Auckland, where almost all chases play out per their statistics, has seen chases rise from 500 yearly to over 2000 a year since 2003. There is no question it's incentivised by KPI's (quotas).

Out of 1307 people killed or injured in Police chases between 2002-2012, 270 were innocent bystanders not involved in the pursuit, and 8 of them children under 14, including a boy seriously injured on a school crossing.
Numerous reviews by toothless authorities have made oft ignored "calming" recommendations.

Justice Goddards IPCA review thoroughly examined the best literature and then recommended Police desist from chases over trivial matters, which accounts for the engagement in a full 90% of chases. The vast majority of road safety interest groups have put forth strong views that chases need severe restriction and the status quo of discretionary chases is uncivilised.

PICK group likewise supports a "violent offender only" policy, because that is what maximises safety and protects the public from Police and Quarry generated bloody chaos and disorder. It takes two to tango and create mayhem, because once Police take bait of chasing adrenalin makes their target a sure bet to run your granma over.

The bigger man walks away, catching up with the offender vehicle later.
Because unless the fleeing driver is a murderer or bank robber their odds of harming someone are low if let go, but multiply a hundred fold if not. There's no mystery to this, Police who chase minor offenders play russian roulette with the very Public that they are charged to protect.

Queensland and Tasmania have beneficially removed chase culture. Chase bans took Toronto to zero deaths a year, vastly improving law and order by homicide prevention. In St. Louis County only a serious felony can trigger a high-speed chase, Police there also say "We would rather let a stolen car go than take the risk of someone getting killed.

Police in Victoria, Canada in 2007 adopted a policy restricting pursuits to situations where there were reasonable grounds to believe the driver or passenger of a vehicle “has committed, or is about to commit a serious criminal offence involving the imminent the threat of grievous
bodily harm or death to any person”. The policy explicitly prohibited pursuits when the offence was solely a traffic or property crime. Several United States jurisdictions restrict pursuits to violent offending.

When ‘violent offender only’ policies are introduced, there is a dramatic fall in the number of pursuits and pursuitrelated injuries and fatalities,
but no corresponding increase in crime or vehicle offending rates (for example, Alpert, 1997; Oakland Police Review Board, 2004; Homel, 1994).
Anne Tolley and NZ Police need to stop trying to deflect responsibility for their role in numerous injuries and deaths being visited on innocent people. They have blood on their hands, and no scientific defense.

ENDS

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