Police must not reject Coroner’s calls to save lives by curbing high-speed chases as 21-year-old woman critically injured
Labor Police Minister Yasmin Catley and Premier Chris Minns are under pressure to intervene as the NSW Police shun recommendations from the Deputy Coroner of NSW to reduce the number of dangerous high-speed police pursuits, which have risen sharply in recent years.
Police have just declared a critical incident after a 21-year-old woman in Liverpool was seriously injured during a crash involving a stolen ute driven by a teenage boy being pursued by police.
It follows a dangerous high-speed chase near Lismore on Monday morning, where a battered car was chased through residential areas and a shopping centre carpark. The wheel of the car being pursued flew into the backyard of a Wollongbar woman, narrowly missing her son’s vehicle.
Greens MP, solicitor and spokesperson for Justice Sue Higginson said “The Police have made a grave error in failing to agree to even the most reasonable recommendations from the Coroner to curb dangerous police practice of high-speed chases, despite a massive spike in police pursuits and subsequent collisions, injuries and deaths,”
“A 21-year-old woman, an innocent by-stander, is now in serious condition after a horrifying crash resulting from a police pursuit. This is literally just days after the police made the wrong judgement in refusing to follow expert advice and recommendations about this dangerous police practice,”
“When police decide to play Russian Roulette and recklessly chase dangerous drivers on our roads and through our towns, it is the community who pay the price. Innocent people should not bear the deadly consequences of police recklessness. If we continue with this completely unnecessary and dangerous police practice it will undermine confidence in policing,”
“Just on Monday, police chased a battered vehicle through the residential streets of Goonellabah and Alstonville on a school morning, the car was even chased through the carpark of a shopping centre and tires were flying into the front yards of innocent bystanders. These are the sorts of actions that can and do result in the deaths of innocent people, particularly small children,”
“A Coronial inquest into the death of an innocent man killed by police during a high-speed chase, Harri Jokinen, made five recommendations to the Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon but has not accepted a single one. I am quite shocked at the abdication of responsibility, there is a massive blindspot here and the Police Minister Yasmin Catley or the Premier Chris Minns needs to intervene,”
“The Commissioner is meeting with Mr Jokien’s widow next week and I hope that the Commissioner reconsiders his position before that meeting, because the stark reality is there is no place for this type of reckless and extremely dangerous policing on our roads and it will continue to kill innocent people without action,” Ms Higginson said.