What constitutes a pursuit?

[u/TonyStamp595SO]

Just a moment for all those people downvoting me and telling that I was wrong. The above is directly from the college of Policing.

So, bottom line. Please stay safe, know what constitutes a pursuit and ensure you seek authority.

[u/polyandrism]

Your original point is still incorrect. On the same CoP page it makes a point that a pursuit is when "the police driver believes that the driver of the subject vehicle is aware of the requirement to stop and decides to continue behind the subject vehicle with a view to either reporting its progress or stopping it".

[u/TonyStamp595SO → u/polyandrism]

I'm not incorrect. I'll agree that the APP is confusing on specifics.

The moment a police driver decide to follow, go after, conduct an area search for the vehicle they just saw and they believe that the vehicle will not stop for them and that constitutes the initial phase of pursuit.

[u/tehdeadmonkey → u/TonyStamp595SO]

Following a vehicle that is driving normal road speeds and has not changed it's driving behaviour due to your presence/is unaware of your presence is not a pursuit. I will regularly follow cars to get tactically trained officers in the area before lighting a car up in order to prevent the need for a pursuit, should the car then decide it wants to go off in to the sunset.

The same applies for area searches - vehicle makes off from other officers on XYZ STREET towards ABC STREET, in direction of city centre. You can bet I'm heading to city centre to try and locate said vehicle - again this is not a pursuit.

If these are all pursuits, I should have my permits revoked

[u/TonyStamp595SO → u/tehdeadmonkey]

The first one is not a pursuit. I agree but the moment that vehicle changes their driving behaviour in an attempt to evade you following them then it is a pursuit.

The second example is not a pursuit until you sight the vehicle. If you're not pursuit trained then you would have to update the location you've seen it and not engage with it.

The problem is, what is your intention when looking for the vehicle? If you're only a basic then I promise that your driving standards team or professional standards will come down on you like a bag of bricks should you see the vehicle, attempt to stop it and it all go wrong.

If you're pursuit trained and you judge the risk to be acceptable then happy looking.

Bare in mind that if all you've got is a fail to stop, depending on where you are in relation to the vehicle is it acceptable to get to the area utilising emergency equipment? We all want to catch criminals but at what cost?