NEWS > 01 March 2006

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Montreal Gazette - Montreal, Q
01 March 2006

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Risk to life is key concept

Yesterday's incident involving a car and a police cruiser in Deux Montagnes was too brief to be considered a chase, but that didn't stop some critics from pointing out the dangers of hot pursuit.

Rare is the case that police must pursue a vehicle at all costs, retired Surete du Quebec officer Michel Oligny said. There are plenty of other ways for police to do their job, he insists.

"If I want to catch somebody because he killed someone and for this reason we kill two other citizens, what is the best thing to do? I don't mind losing a criminal if I can save the lives of other people," he said.

A 14-year-old Deux Montagnes girl died when a car driven by a 17-year-old boy sped off and crashed after police tried to pull it over for a traffic violation.

Oligny, a 26-year SQ veteran, took part in his share of chases on the back roads around Richmond in the Eastern Townships, where he served for 17 years. But urban settings pose the most risk, he said. Quebec should follow the lead of other jurisdictions like Ontario, where chases are limited in big cities, he said.

Some police chases are judged in terms of whether the officer has a right to initiate it, Oligny said.

"But if, because of my right to check a car, we take the risk of killing somebody, I don't think that's right," he added.

Individual police services do not discuss their policies on chases, but all base themselves on the Public Security Department's police practices guide. The Guide des pratiques policieres requires officers to evaluate the risk before beginning a chase according to factors like the severity of the offence, weather, the presence of pedestrians, traffic and other conditions. Once a chase is initiated, an officer must alert his superior that he is in pursuit.

"It's relatively strict. As soon as a life is in danger, we stop the chase," Longueuil police Constable Pierre Quintal said.

That is in line with the recommendations made in a 2004 coroner's report into a 2001 police chase in Matane that ended in the death of Sebastien Tremblay, 25, who had driven into a patrol car and made a rude gesture at the officer inside. The coroner urged police to stop pursuing drivers suspected of relatively minor offences once it is clear the chase has become a threat to public safety, and to limit high-speed pursuits to serious crimes like murder.

Similar sentiments were echoed in a February 2005 decision by the Quebec Police Ethics Committee in a fatal chase involving Le Gardeur-Charlemagne police. The committee described police chases as dangerous and risky - for motorists, pedestrians, police and the suspect. "Unfortunately, these chases are necessary but too frequent," it said.

According to the coroner's office, there were 55 fatalities associated with police chases in Quebec between 1990 and 2003. Montreal police reported an average of 131 pursuits annually between 2000 and 2005.

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The subject of police vehicle

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Article sourced from

Montreal Gazette - Montreal, Q01 March 2006

Risk to life is key concept

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Montreal Gazette - Montreal, Q
01 March 2006