POLICE Commissioner Ian Stewart has launched an impassioned defence of the "no pursuits" policy, drawing on his own own experience of telling a family of a death in a police chase

"I have personally had to tell a father that his teenager died as a result of a police pursuit," Mr Stewart writes in his blog From the Commissioner's Desk.

"I never want another one of our officers to have to go through that awful task.

"The reality of our pursuit policy is that our officers can pursue if there is a significant public risk in letting the offenders go. This is rarely the case."

Mr Stewart was responding to a report in today's The Courier-Mail about a teenage offender who taunted police (see the full story below) about the policy, which is causing frustration for officers.

He also revealed the 18-year old offender who phoned Policelink and triple-0 to taunt police from a stolen car last week had since been arrested and is due to appear in Beenleigh Magistrates Court on 20 November.

The teenager had been charged with stealing, failing to stop a motor vehicle, armed robbery, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle and unlicensed driving.

"We have to be the cool, responsible head in these situations, and understand that by pursuing these people, we are dramatically increasing the risk to you, to our officers, and to the offenders.

"Our first priority is always to public safety, and it must always be that way.

"The good news is that we are getting better at catching these offenders."

Earlier, it was revealed that criminals are taunting police over the "no pursuits" policy, with one teenage car thief phoning the service during a chase to complain that officers should not be on his tail.

In one of the most frustrating incidents to emerge since the policy was introduced last year, the 18-year-old offender phoned the Policelink hotline and triple-0 when he was behind the wheel of a stolen car on Brisbane's southside last week.

His brazen phone calls, in which he skited that officers had to back off because the pursuit was becoming dangerous, have prompted renewed calls from the Queensland Police Union to scrap the no-pursuits policy, which was designed to save lives.

"The entire system has become dysfunctional, with criminals now taunting police and the courts refusing to enforce the mandatory penalties in legislation," police union president Ian Leavers said.

"Criminals know police have a 'no pursuits policy' and we have just seen a frightening increase of criminals deliberately taunting and stalking police in their cars, knowing full well police are not allowed to pursue them."

However, Police Commissioner Ian Stewart last night warned of the dangers of chasing drivers who were often young, inexperienced and affected by drugs and alcohol.

"The juvenile behaviour of this offender does not trigger a potentially life-threatening response by police," he said.

"Pursuing is not the answer in these circumstances.

"We are increasingly tracing and arresting these individuals in the days or weeks after incidents like this and they are facing the courts. They may have their juvenile fun but the harsh realities of their actions will catch up with them."

In his first public comments on the policy, Mr Stewart also said the public "understands that no stolen vehicle is worth their life, or the life of one of their family or friends".

"To pursue these people, we would very likely be making a dangerous situation far, far worse, especially as they have only usually committed minor traffic offences. To do so is to endanger not only our officers but members of the general public who are innocently going about their lives.

"There are circumstances where more serious crimes have been committed, and where not pursuing may lead to a greater danger to the public, and in those instances the policy does allow our officers to pursue."

Under the pursuits policy, introduced last December, officers are barred from high-speed chases unless the offender is a violent high-risk or lives are threatened.

It followed 19 deaths and 737 injuries from police pursuits since 2000, including the tragic case of schoolgirl Caitlin Hanrick, 13, who died after being hit by a stolen car during a chase at Redcliffe.

Several officers told The Courier-Mail they were aware of last week's incident involving a teen wanted for questioning over multiple incidents of assaulting and evading police.

One source said the youth had been driving a stolen car near the Marsden Park shopping centre about 2am last Wednesday when he came across a police car.

A cat-and-mouse incident followed in which he drove in front and behind the police car then took off at speed before coming across police again, it was claimed.

He phoned the Policelink hotline first and then triple-0, saying he wanted police to stop chasing him.

Australian Institute of Criminology research released this week revealed there were 219 pursuit-related deaths nationally from 2000 to 2011.

Figures revealed 37 per cent of those who died during pursuits were bystanders, while autopsy results revealed 88 per cent of drivers had taken drugs or alcohol or both.

Mr Leavers warned the road toll could rise rather than fall.

"The road toll has seen an increase of 10 per cent on last year, and coming into Christmas, with police having their hands tied not being able to engage in pursuits, I fear it will continue to rise," he said.

Email David Murray

