Investigation into police contact before a road traffic collision – Merseyside Police, October 2023

In the early hours of the morning, a single-crewed police officer was in a marked police car on routine patrol when they became aware of a car driving at speed. The police officer engaged in a pursuit with the car. The officer reported to the force control room that the car was travelling at more than 90mph in a 40mph zone. 

The officer lost sight of the car. Approximately 25 seconds later, the officer found the car which had crashed into another vehicle. A pedestrian sustained serious injuries and died. 

We independently investigated the contact between the police and the driver of the car before the collision. We analysed the actions, decisions and risk assessments of the police officer involved in the pursuit, the police officer’s training and pursuit authority, the management of the pursuit by the force control room, and whether the actions of the police were in line with local and national policies and procedures. 

We analysed dashcam footage, CCTV and other data from the police car. We obtained an account from the police officer involved and their actions were analysed against relevant policies and training. 
During the investigation, there was no indication any police officer may have behaved in a manner that would justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings or committed a criminal offence. 

We carefully considered whether there were any learning opportunities arising from the investigation. We make learning recommendations to improve policing and public confidence in the police complaints system, and prevent a recurrence of similar incidents.

Our investigation did not identify any areas of learning in this case.