Child injured by car during pursuit - West Yorkshire Police, December 2017
On 15 December 2017, a West Yorkshire Police officer in an unmarked police car saw a BMW car in Leeds city centre. Earlier that day, this BMW had activated automatic number plate recognition cameras indicating it was stolen and displaying false number plates. The officer illuminated his vehicle’s blue lights to indicate to the driver to stop. However, the driver failed to do so and the force control room authorised a pursuit. The officer was joined by two marked police cars. In trying to evade the police, the BMW mounted a pavement and collided with a child, causing the child serious leg injuries. The officer driving the unmarked police car subsequently collided with the rear of the BMW.
We obtained statements from the officers who were the drivers and passengers in the police cars, together with the member of the force control room staff who authorised the pursuit. We also reviewed the officers’ actions, alongside local and national police policies relating to pursuits. In addition, we also reviewed in-car and council CCTV footage of the pursuit and subsequent collision.
We determined that, by colliding with the rear of the BMW, there was an indication that the driver of the unmarked police car may have acted in a manner that would justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings, and served him with a notice of investigation. The officer provided a full explanation of his decision making and rationale, and we determined that he had no case to answer. All police officers and staff co-operated fully with this investigation.
After reviewing our final investigation report, West Yorkshire Police agreed with our findings.
During our investigation, we brought to West Yorkshire Police’s attention the actions of one of the officers who, despite the BMW moving towards her, placed herself in a position to try and shield the child and prevent them sustaining further injury. We believe this officer displayed qualities which are a credit to her and West Yorkshire Police.