Inquest into the Death of Child JP (Name Subject to Suppression Order)
Deceased
Child JP
Demographics
16y, male
Date of death
2018-02-08
Finding date
2021-12-21
Cause of death
multiple injuries sustained in motor vehicle crash
AI-generated summary
A 16-year-old unlicensed driver died in a high-speed crash while being pursued by unmarked police over 14 km. The driver attempted a dangerous overtaking manoeuvre on a gravel verge while evading police. Two detectives in the pursuing car failed to voluntarily terminate the pursuit despite multiple policy violations: driving through a service station at unsafe speed, driving on the wrong side of the road against a red light, and excessive speeds exceeding 80 km/h limit. The passenger detective provided inadequate situation reports to the Police Operations Centre, failing to report critical dangerous driving by the pursued vehicle. The coroner found these failures contributed to the death. The Internal Affairs Unit investigation was also deficient, failing to compulsorily interview the detectives or obtain expert policy advice. Recommendations focus on dashcam installation, expert policy review in future investigations, and compulsory interviews of subject officers in fatal incidents.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Error types
Drugs involved
Contributing factors
- high-speed police pursuit lasting 14 kilometres over 7 minutes
- failure of detectives to voluntarily terminate pursuit despite dangerous driving
- excessive speed (130-140 km/h in 80 km/h zone)
- dangerous overtaking manoeuvres on gravel verge
- driving on incorrect side of road through service station and intersection
- driving against red traffic light
- inadequate situation reports to Police Operations Centre by passenger detective
- Police Operations Centre communications controller delayed in terminating pursuit
- presence of cannabis in deceased's system
- unlicensed driving without valid licence or learner permit
Coroner's recommendations
- WA Police Force should give priority to seeking funding to implement installation of dashcam technology in all police vehicles that undertake emergency driving, with associated infrastructure and personnel to manage and review footage, providing real-time live feed to Police Operations Centre
- For Internal Affairs Unit investigations involving fatality subject to mandatory inquest under section 22(1)(b) of Coroners Act 1996 (WA), the IAU must always obtain a report or opinion from a relevant policy expert unless exceptional reasons exist
- For Internal Affairs Unit investigations involving fatality subject to mandatory inquest under section 22(1)(b) of Coroners Act 1996 (WA), all subject officers must be compulsorily interviewed (whether or not they have provided statements to another section of WA Police Force) unless exceptional reasons exist
- WA Police Force should investigate feasibility of enabling a Duty Inspector to directly communicate decision to terminate evade police incident to police officers in vehicles involved in the incident
Full text
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Source and disclaimer
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