580 drivers flee police

New Zealand Police Association president Greg O'Connor

More than 580 Northland drivers have fled from police in the past five years, official figures show.

Data released to the Northern Advocate under the Official Information Act showed 585 Northland drivers were issued "fleeing driver notifications" between July 2009 and June last year.

The number of fleeing drivers caught fluctuated between 103 in 2013 and 145 in 2010, according to police records. Last year, 119 Northland drivers were issued fleeing driver notifications.

This Easter alone, Northland police were involved in three pursuits - one on Ninety Mile Beach where the driver of a stolen vehicle ended up flipping in soft sand before running off, a second lasted two hours and required police helicopter assistance, and the third required specialist armed offenders as the stolen vehicle was believed to have firearms aboard.

Whangarei/Kaipara area commander Inspector Justin Rogers said all pursuits were of concern as they put innocent people and officers in danger.

"There are any number of reasons drivers flee from police including driver licence issues, such as being disqualified or unlicensed, driving a stolen car, or occupants may have been involved in prior criminal activity," Mr Rogers said.

Those involved were motivated to evade capture and, in several instances, were driving vehicles beyond their capability, he said.

"Recent incidents have also involved younger offenders, who do not fully appreciate the danger they are placing themselves and others in when they flee from police.

"If [drivers] choose to flee from police they will face more serious charges than if they had stopped, such as reckless or dangerous driving."

Nationally, more than 11,000 drivers were caught fleeing police in the past five financial years.

The amount of drivers caught each year fluctuated between 2195 in 2009 and 2393 last year.

New Zealand Police Association president Greg O'Connor said fleeing drivers were "a major dilemma". "Those numbers only include drivers that were caught.

" There's a lot more drivers that have got away who will do it again because they think they can get away with it.

"It's an issue police forces and governments around the world are grappling with."

Most incidents which ended in an accident happened within 30 or 40 seconds.

"The last thing you want is people driving stupidly and dangerously to get away from police and then have them going headfirst into a vehicle." Mr O'Connor said there was no right answer for dealing with fleeing drivers.

"The question is 'do you have a no-pursuit policy or a very prescriptive one which actually makes roads less safe because you're incentivising drivers to get away from police?'. It's a matter of trying to get some kind of balance. Generally, I think we've got it pretty well right in New Zealand.

"In Queensland, where they've virtually got a no-pursuit policy, there was a death in the weekend and someone who broke their neck from fleeing police."

Some police association members were frustrated by attitudes towards being pulled over by police.

"There should be more of a focus on changing the behaviour of drivers than on changing the behaviour of police." NZME.