An unacceptable and incomprehensible tragedy.
There’s no other way to describe the scene that unfolded on Highway 401 in Whitby Monday night, when a wrong-way police pursuit ended in a multi-vehicle collision that claimed the lives of four people, including an infant and the child’s grandparents. An occupant in the van was also killed. Another person suffered serious injuries.
It’s hard to imagine a riskier scenario – a suspect in a cargo van, followed by a phalanx of cop cars, all speeding head-on into unsuspecting traffic.
For what? A robbery at an LCBO store? Even the report that the suspect may have brandished a knife at an off-duty Durham Region officer who was at the store does not appear to justify the decision to race off in hot pursuit.
This chase should never have been started. It certainly should have been called off when it became apparent the suspect vehicle was headed onto the highway.
Viewing bystander video of the chase on the highway and it’s apparent that it was certain to end badly. Motorists described the terrifying scene of vehicles rushing at them. The dangers were obvious, at least to some officers. “Someone’s going to get hurt,” an unidentified OPP officer commented over the radio as multiple Durham police cars gave chase after the van.
Yes, the suspect made the reckless decision to put lives at risk. But the wanton recklessness of a suspected criminal does not compel police to follow suit. Officers, after all, are the ones with the responsibility to weigh the bigger picture and the threat to broader public safety. They are the ones trained for such scenarios, to stay cool and clear-headed in such adrenaline-fueled situations.
Indeed, revised provincial regulations, which came into force just a month ago, make clear the obligations of police officers around pursuits. They can only be started if a criminal offence has been committed or is about to be committed and no alternatives can be “readily” implemented. Critically, the regulations underscore the responsibility of officers to continually assess the risks to public safety and to discontinue a pursuit if that risk becomes greater than the dangers of a suspect not being immediately apprehended.
Such regulations are born out of past tragedies. There’s a lengthy list of innocent bystanders killed in Toronto-area police chases, which underscores the folly of such actions. These incidents in the late 1990s prompted the previous revision of the rules more than a decade ago.
Based on what we know so far, it’s difficult to think that the apprehension of an alleged liquor store robber met the high bar for initiating a chase. In this era of security and traffic cameras — Highway 401 in particular is dotted with them — surely there were other avenues to track the van and help ensure the apprehension of the suspect.
Premier Doug Ford called the incident a “tragedy” and suggested that the province’s funding of four additional police helicopters for the Greater Toronto region would avoid such chases in the future. They can certainly help but they are no panacea given that they are not always airborne and available when needed. In this case, Durham does have a police helicopter. It’s not known if it was called on to assist Monday.
That’s one of the questions that hang over this tragedy. There are many others. What was the justification for the pursuit? How was it supervised?
The Special Investigations Unit, which investigates deaths or serious injuries in incidents that involve police, is investigating the circumstances around this fatal pursuit. An inquest will also be needed to get at the broader issues.
A month after new guidelines took effect and already it’s apparent more explicit guidance is needed to make clear what was underscored by Monday’s tragedy: Police chases are never worth the risk.
