Case Number: 2022/2500
Date of Findings: 16 May 2025
Magistrate: Deputy State Coroner, Rebecca Hosking
Catchwords: CORONIAL LAW – Death as a result of police operations; NSW police application of policies and procedures in relation to motor vehicle pursuits.
Responses
| Recommendations to | Response |
|---|
| Commissioner of NSW Police Force | Received (PDF, 336.6 KB) |
Recommendations
That the Commissioner of Police:
- Amend the Safe Driving Response and Operations Guideline (SDROG) to mandate that a pursuit can be commenced only if police are satisfied that a serious risk to the health and safety of a person existed before the decision to intercept or stop the vehicle.
- Make clear in the terms of the SDROG, and in any relevant training, that the above test is the threshold for a police pursuit.
- Amend the SDROG to expressly provide that upon a pursuit being called the relevant pursuit supervisor must, as soon as practicable, ask the pursuing officer to identify the serious risk to health or safety of a person that existed before the decision to intercept or stop the vehicle, and give independent consideration to whether that threshold is met.
- Ensure that state-wide mandatory training be provided to all NSW Police Force officers on the threshold test for police pursuits.
- Mandate that the serious risk to the health and safety of a person that existed before the decision to stop or intercept a vehicle be recorded for every police pursuit.
