Why are there no lessons learned from road traffic incidents involving the police?

Abstract

An analysis of 64 investigations of pursuits undertaken by the police between 1998 and 2001, resulting in 71 deaths, highlighted a number of concerns about the post-incident management of pursuits by police forces in England and Wales. The current article examines the investigations from the same set of incidents to assess what actions the police forces have taken to prevent such incidents from occurring in future. However, evidence of learning is sparse— with few officers disciplined for their actions, infrequent recommendations for policy change and little sign of systematic organizational learning. The article concludes by considering the consequences for organizational culture of this apparent learning failure and challenges the effectiveness of the current system and the willingness of police forces to change their practices in the light of such large numbers of police-related fatalities.

Keywords

evidence-based practice police policy police pursuit-related deaths professional standards

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Alpert, G.P. (1997) Police Pursuit: Policy and Training. Washington, DC: US National Institute of Justice, US Department of Justice .

Alpert, G.P. , D.J. Kenny , R.G. Dunham , W. Smith and M. Cosgrove (1996) Police Pursuit and the Use of Force. A final report to the US National Institute of Justice. Washington, DC: US National Institute of Justice .

Association of Chief Police Officers of England, Wales and Northern Ireland (ACPO) (2000) Guide to Pursuit Management. London: Association of Chief Police Officers .

Auten, J. (1994) ‘Police Pursuits and Officer Attitude: Myths and Realities’ , American Journal of Police.

Best, D. (2002) Fatal Pursuit: Investigation of Road Traffic Incidents (RTIs) Involving Police Vehicles, 1998–2001: Identifying Common Factors and the Lessons to Be Learned. London: Police Complaints Authority .

Best, D. and K. Eves (in press) ‘Fatal Pursuit: An Analysis of Police Chases Resulting in Loss of Life or Serious Injury’.

Dunham, R.G. , G.P. Alpert , D.J. Kenny and P. Cromwell (1998) High-Speed Pursuit: The Offender's Perspective. Criminal Justice and Behaviour. US: American Association for Correctional Psychology .

Falcone, D.N. , L.E. Wells and M.T. Charles (1992) Police Pursuit: In Pursuit of Policy: The Empirical Study. Washington, DC: AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety .

Lind, R. (1998) Report of the Working Group of the Association of Chief Police Officers (Personal and Training) Committee into Pursuit Driver Training. London: Association of Chief Police Officers of England, Wales and Northern Ireland .

10.

Police Complaints Authority (2002) Annual Report of the Police Complaints Authority. London: The Stationery Office .

11.

Police Complaints Authority (2003) Annual Report of the Police Complaints Authority. London: The Stationery Office .

12.

Rix, B. , D. Walker and R. Brown (1997) A Study of Deaths and Serious Injuries Resulting from Police Vehicle Accidents. Police Research Group. Home Office. London: HMSO .