(file image) Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
Police acknowledge parts of their internal policy were not followed when two Dunedin officers pursued a stolen car that later crashed, killing one of the occupants.
The Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) has found police breached its internal policy by following a fleeing car moments after some of its occupants burgled a liquor store.
Michael McClelland died after the getaway car he was in crashed on 26 May, 2023.
He was one of five occupants of a stolen car which fled the scene about 1.25am that day, after some of the group broke into a shipping container at the Bottle-O Hillside in the Dunedin suburb of Caversham.
The report said the group triggered the store's security alarm.
"Some of the men stole crates of beer, which they loaded into the car (Mr McLelland did not take part in the burglary or theft)."
Two officers in an unmarked car spotted the Mazda driving recklessly as it turned out of Helena Street onto Hillside Road.
The car was moving at speed and failed to stop at the stop sign on Helena Street and did not have its headlights switched on, the report said.
Police initially pursued the vehicle for about a minute, travelling a distance of about 1.6km.
The driver of the Mazda then lost control and crashed, killing McClelland who was in the back seat.
The IPCA said the officers breached its internal fleeing vehicle policy at the time, guidelines which were on the verge of being revised.
The report said the officer driving the unmarked car should have informed its Southern Communications centre that police were engaged in a pursuit on Hillside Road.
The officer's failure to engage the car's siren was also seen as a breach of the policy, whilst his colleague in the passenger seat should have handled radio communications duties.
The Southern Communications dispatcher should have instructed the officer to abandon the pursuit when learning of the situation.
"Officer A informed the Southern Communications Centre dispatcher (SouthComms): 'Yeah fleeing driver, MacAndrew Road heading towards… Kirkcaldy Street'," the report said.
"SouthComms asked Officer A to confirm he was in pursuit. Officer A responded: 'Roger, ah vehicle has turned its lights off, it was initially with lights off on Hillside Road'.
"'We believe BottleO may have been hit.
"This is followed by Officer A relaying the fleeing car's registration number."
However, the IPCA found police's actions were not a direct cause of the crash and appropriately abandoned the pursuit when it became dangerous.
In a statement, Southern District Commander Superintendent Jason Guthrie said police also conducted its own investigation into events.
"This was a fast-moving and dynamic incident which lasted a matter of a couple of minutes, where staff were required to use split-second judgment," Guthrie said.
"Police's investigation reached the same conclusion as the IPCA's investigation - that our officer's driving did not directly cause the vehicle to crash.
"We acknowledge there were elements of the incident where policy was not followed, and we have had conversations with our staff involved reminding them of those policies.
"We note, as the IPCA did also, that this incident occurred some days before our pursuit policy changed, and our wider staff have since received additional training around this.
"We would also like to acknowledge Michael's family and the grief they must still feel, and extend our sympathies to them."
