Shared on behalf of the End Police Pursuits (EPP) campaign:
As members of the #EndPolicePursuits campaign (EPP), we write to share our anger at the persistent pattern of harm and death that is caused by the use of high-speed car chases (‘pursuits’) and follows. We continue to see the public—particularly working-class and racially minoritised communities—being put at risk of harm and death through pursuits and we refuse to let it go unchallenged.
In 2021, the EPP campaign formed following an unprecedented high rate of fatal road traffic incidents involving the police in Greater Manchester. Whilst the figures fluctuate year on year, we persistently see stories across the UK every year where this practice leads to death and injury.
In many cases, police pursuits are not a response to serious or violent offences, rather they are responding to non-violent offences and/or minor traffic violations. Police pursuits are, therefore, not only a high-risk strategy that puts the public in harm’s way, they tend to be disproportionate to the alleged offence and unnecessary. Not only do pursuits put pursued drivers–who are often young people–at immense risk of injury and death, they also lead to death, injury and harm for passengers, other road users, pedestrians and passersbys and, as has been shown in a recent case in the North East of England, their own officers too.
In many of these cases, we see the police, media, state officials and some members of the public respond by blaming pursued drivers. We ask you to pause and resist narratives that individualise, criminalise and blame those involved whilst obscuring the responsibility of the police and failing to consider the wider social and structural contexts. Deprivation, economic inequality, state neglect and a lack of support and opportunity underpin, incentivise and push people into illegal activity. This is not to deny instances of harm or wrongdoing, but we encourage you to think critically and to challenge narratives that obscure state violence and lack empathy. We urge you to focus on the decision-making of police officers, who have a duty of care to all citizens and are required to ‘first and foremost prioritise the preservation of life’ over the apprehension of ‘suspects’.
We are especially concerned and angry about the loss of young lives through police pursuit. We recognise that young people and ‘teenagers’ are at a stage of life where their brains are still developing and their capacity for assessing risk and decision-making is not the same as adults’. This is reflected in the police’s own Authorised Professional Practice guidelines which instruct officers to consider the age and vulnerability of those in a pursued vehicle when they decide to initiate and continue a pursuit. From our experience, in many new cases we see, it is clear that officers fail to do this. We encourage you to consider what we can be doing in our communities for our young people, and more widely, around road safety and accessibility to affordable driving lessons and insurance. We want our young people to be equipped with knowledge around road safety, road rights and how to respond to a ‘vehicle stop check’.
Finally, we end with an invitation. We welcome new families and loved ones who have been affected and/or bereaved by police pursuits to reach out and join us. We are a family-led group that seeks justice for those affected and/or bereaved by police pursuit. Though based in Greater Manchester, we are a national campaign and we welcome all those affected by police pursuits across the UK in all contexts.
Our goal is to put an end to the over-policing of racially minoritised and working-class communities with a focus on the policing of roads, vehicles and police pursuits. Our key priorities are: (1) prohibiting the use of police pursuits in circumstances involving non-violent offences or minor traffic violations and (2) calling for the recording and transparent publication of all traffic stop data. If you are interested and want to learn more, get involved and/or need support, please get in touch. You can contact us either via NPMP (npolicemonitor@gmail.com) or directly at endpolicepursuits@gmail.com. You can also find our posts on the NPMP Instagram where we share updates and invites to our monthly solidarity space in Manchester.