Police pursuit investigated after complaint into risk assessments – Greater Manchester Police, June 2023

Two roads policing officers noticed a car driving at excessive speed in the opposite direction. The officers turned around and switched on their emergency lights to signal to the car to stop. The driver did not stop, and a pursuit began.

The pursuit lasted three minutes and four seconds. It ended when the driver of the car collided with a van, which caused the van to then collide with a member of the public walking on the pavement. The member of the public died, and the driver of the car was convicted of causing death by dangerous driving and causing death when driving an unlicensed and uninsured vehicle. They received a prison sentence of 10 years and eight months.

We received a death or serious injury referral from the force. The family also complained about the decision taken by officers to pursue the car and the risk assessments they made.

We decided to independently investigate the nature and extent of the police pursuit, including the actions and decisions of the police driver in commencing a pursuit, the risk assessments that were made, the actions and decisions of control room staff and specialists, and whether there was any evidence that the police may have caused or contributed to the person’s death with regards to the pursuit.

We also investigated why there were no recordings of radio communications between anyone concerned with the pursuit, such as the force control room and the driver of the police vehicle.

We considered if the police’s actions were in line with local and national policies, procedures, legislation and training.

Our investigators reviewed and assessed the incident log, CCTV of the pursuit, police dashcam and body worn video, and force policies and procedures. We obtained accounts from the officers and police staff involved in the pursuit and reviewed the actions and decisions of the pursuing officer. Radio communications and dashcam audio were unavailable due to system malfunctions.

We concluded there was no indication that a person serving with the police committed a criminal offence or behaved in a manner to justify disciplinary proceedings.

We found the officers and staff involved in the police pursuit acted in accordance with policies, procedures, guidance and training. The driver of the police car dynamically risk assessed throughout the pursuit, twice requesting authorisation to pursue. We did find that the absence of recordings of radio communications during the pursuit was unacceptable.

We carefully considered whether there were any learning opportunities arising from the investigation. We make learning recommendations to improve policing and public confidence in the police complaints system and prevent a recurrence of similar incidents.

We made three recommendations around the fact recordings of the police radio communications and dashcam audio were unavailable due to system malfunctions. These recommendations can be found here: Recommendations - Greater Manchester Police, May 2024 | Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC)