Police say pursuits are back. They're ditching their zero-pursuit policy, but are yet to say how far they'll go.
But the sister of an Auckland man killed in a police pursuit five years ago said she and her family are forever living with the long-term impacts of when a pursuit ends in the worst way.
Renee Maxwell knows first-hand the impact of a police pursuit gone wrong because five years ago, it was a pursuit that took her brother Connor Tala'imanu from her.
"That's the hard pill to swallow, I guess, is that it all could have been prevented," Maxwell said.
In October 2017, Tala'imanu, who had recently been accepted into police college, was being driven by a sober driver with a group of friends. He had only met the driver a few times.
The silver Golf was spotted speeding at 133 kilometres an hour in an 80km/h zone, but when police signalled for it to stop, it didn't and a pursuit was triggered. It ended when the vehicle crashed into a tree.
Tala'imanu and Sherina Meuli were killed, and an Independent Police Conduct Authority report later found police should have abandoned the chase that saw officers travel at 200 kilometres an hour.
"Ultimately the driver, he's the one person that made that decision and he crashed the car and he caused it, but to know that the police were somewhat responsible for it. You can live on the 'what if' but in a way for us, we kind of have to," Maxwell said.
"What if the police didn't pursue, what if they'd stopped, what if they'd pulled back. My brother could be alive right now."
In 2020, the threshold for police to give chase was significantly lifted after 63 pursuit-related deaths in just 10 years.
On Tuesday, Police Commissioner Andrew Coster announced that's changing again.
"We want to make sure that our people have the ability to pursue in cases where there's a high risk of harm from serious offending," Cmmr Coster said.
A Fleeing Driver Framework will be introduced next year to give clarity to police on when a pursuit is justified.
"I think those past tragic events exactly highlight the difficulty and the balance that we have to strike here. The public reasonably expects police to keep them safe from offending, they also reasonably expect to be safe on the roads, there's no perfect answer and it's a delicate balance," Cmmr Coster said.
In the wake of a raft of serious retail crime, including the fatal stabbing of Auckland dairy worker Janak Patel, police have also announced a broadening of Operation Cobalt which focuses on unlawful gang behaviour - to include repeat offenders causing significant harm.
Maxwell said she wants more details about the changes to the police pursuit policy but it makes her nervous.
"Someone could lose their life, something bad could happen. Because I know that because that's what happened with my brother," she said.
"The driver who wasn't a criminal is now a criminal, we've lost two lives, two families that have had to live without their daughter and son, all because of something that shouldn't have happened."
A backseat passenger - blameless and helpless - in a pursuit that went horribly wrong.
