Police who tasered motorist breached policy, but justified, IPCA says

The motorist was tasered as he attempted to drive his car through a police blockade. Photo / File

The police watchdog says the actions of an officer who smashed a car window to taser a fleeing driver in Southland violated policy, but were justified.

Southern police have also defended the actions of the officer, who did not face disciplinary action after firing the electro-shock weapon through the broken window at the man as he attempted to plough his car through a police blockade.

The circumstances of the incident, on August 18 last year, have been revealed for the first time following Official Information Act requests from the Otago Daily Times.

Southern district professional conduct manager Inspector Michael Woods, of Dunedin, said in a letter police were alerted to a driver straddling the centre line and swerving across lanes, on State Highway 1 between Bluff and Invercargill.

After ignoring requests from police to stop, the driver sped towards Invercargill. Officers laid road spikes and set up roadblocks.

In the space of just seven minutes after the high-speed pursuit began, the driver careened through three sets of road spikes and three roadblocks, before finally being blocked in by police in Dee St, Invercargill, shortly before midnight.

But he was not going down without a fight, refusing to leave his vehicle and attempting to smash his way out of the blockade.

"In doing so the immediate safety of police personnel was compromised," Insp Woods said.

An officer then broke the passenger-side window, took aim with their Taser and pulled the trigger, shooting two electrode darts into the offender, immobilising him. The driver was then taken into police custody.

Insp Woods said a police policy guideline warned against using a Taser on a driver if there was a risk of their vehicle going out of control and causing injuries.

However, an internal police review of the incident found the use of the Taser was "authorised and appropriate", given the risk to public safety and because the driver did not respond to police requests to turn off the engine and exit the vehicle.

The internal review also supported the decision to pursue the vehicle, and the manner in which the pursuit was conducted. Insp Woods said that no breaches of the police code of conduct were identified.

But when the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) reviewed the incident, the watchdog recorded it as an "improper Taser usage by the organisation as contrary to policy but justified in the circumstances".

Apart from providing a brief summary of the pursuit and the ensuing internal investigation, police declined to release any reports regarding the incident, citing the privacy interests of both the offending driver and the officers involved.

The ODT also revealed this year the Police Professional Conduct Group had investigated four other instances of possible improper Taser use in the Southern district since 2014, including two in the Otago Coastal area and two in Southland.

None of those four investigations resulted in complaints or allegations being upheld.

Earlier this year, the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) confirmed an Otago officer would not be prosecuted for tasering a feral goat 13 times near Oamaru in 2016 before it was euthanised.