Bay of Plenty Police were involved in more than 100 car chases with fleeing drivers last year - 70 per cent more than four years ago.
Police information obtained by the Bay of Plenty Times showed in 2016 police were involved in 101 different pursuits - almost two a week. Around half of them (48) were ultimately abandoned. Eleven resulted in crashes.
Police pursuits had increased significantly in the last few years, rising from 59 in 2012. Thirty-one of those were abandoned, and four ended in a crash.
Police Bay of Plenty road policing manager Inspector Brent Crowe said the figures were a "real concern".
"A small group of road users, predominately young males, who engage in this risky behaviour are clearly unaware of the tragic consequences that can occur from a simple decision not to stop for police," Mr Crowe said.
"Police have no intention of handing the roads over to those who think they are above the law."
He said deciding to pursue a car was a balancing act between safety and law enforcement.
"Fleeing from police will bring little chance of escaping punishment and a much higher chance of facing more serious charges," Mr Crowe said.
However, the weight of the charges was exactly where the problem lay and could be a factor in the increase, Police Association president Chris Cahill said.
He said for someone who was already driving dangerously or drunk, "there's no great incentive to stop".
"The penalty you'll get for the major offence far outweighs the small fine you'll get for failing to stop," Mr Cahill said.
"What we're saying is there needs to be mandatory license suspension and mandatory car impoundment for every failing to stop offence."
He said imprisonment should also be an option if the failing to stop offence was serious enough on its own.
Mr Cahill said those fleeing think they had got a good shot at getting away, and the weak sentencing - and social media - encouraged them.
"We believe there's so much publicity around it a lot of the people involved in these pursuits believe police will pull out quickly, so they're more likely to have a go.
"We're seeing more juveniles involved in these pursuits - young kids - that are doing it and are quite happy to get into a pursuit.
He said younger evading drivers or passengers often filmed the chases to post them on Facebook and other social media.
"It's almost a competition amongst each other."
Police updated their Fleeing Driver Policy in July 2016. The policy has undergone seven major reviews since 1996.
Recent Bay police pursuits
- Eighteen-year-old Levi Green died in 2015 after his car plunged over a bank in Oropi after police signalled for him to pull over late on a Friday night.
- Late last year, 20-year-old Ethan Cowley was charged with failing to stop for police after taking them on a 170km/h chase.
Along with three other charges, Cowley was sentenced to nine months' supervision in the Tauranga District Court, and disqualified from driving for 18 months.
In explanation Cowley told the arresting officer, "I guess I just wanted to have some fun."
The presiding Judge said Cowley had "significant health difficulties".
- In 2013 a fleeing driver travelling 120km/h in a 50km/h area crashed into a van on State Highway 29, leaving two young children and the driver lucky to be alive.
The impact of the crash pushed in the front of the van and threw the car 20m down a bank.