Incident during pursuit - Nottinghamshire Police, November 2016

On 22 November 2016, a Nottinghamshire Police officer was involved in pursuing a vehicle around a roundabout in the wrong direction and along a dual carriageway contrary to oncoming traffic. The Force Control Room (FCR) Inspector advised the FCR operator to instruct the officer to abort the pursuit. The vehicle pursued turned around and came to a halt after colliding with a stationary vehicle and boundary wall. The driver sustained minor head injuries.

On 10 January 2017, Nottinghamshire Police referred this incident to us as a conduct matter. During the investigation, investigators interviewed witnesses and the police officer. We also collated electronic evidence and exhibits.

The actions of the officer indicated that he was pursuing the car. However, according to College of Policing guidelines, the officer was not authorised to pursue the car. Neither was he trained to carry out pursuits.

The Investigator concluded that there was sufficient evidence upon which a reasonable tribunal could conclude that the officer had a case to answer for gross misconduct.

After reviewing our report, Nottinghamshire Police was of the view that the officer had a case to answer for misconduct – rather than gross misconduct. We agreed with this after considering their rationale. However, as the officer had retired from the force during our investigation, no disciplinary action could be taken against the officer.