Police pursuits: the reality behind on-screen chases
The news that two police officers were killed on the A66 near Middlesbrough—along with five young men in another vehicle—is horrifying. My thoughts are with the family and friends of PC Matthew Blades and PC Tom Clough of Cleveland Police. It’s heartbreaking that they left for work that day not knowing they would never return. May they rest in peace.
It’s less than two days since the tragedy, and details are still emerging. Reports indicate officers were in pursuit of a VW Passat moments before the collision. I won’t speculate. I have no inside information; I’m relying on BBC reporting. Nothing that follows should be taken as any sort of commentary on this specific incident, nor as criticism of anyone involved. That is not my intention, but I do want to talk in general about police pursuits in England and Wales, and how the reality differs from the average dramatic portrayal. Inevitably, the general public's response to these sorts of incidents will in part be informed by what they will have seen on TV and in films.
How film and TV show pursuits
In film and TV, we see police cars hurtling through traffic, blue lights flashing, sirens blaring, bumper to bumper, sometimes pulling alongside suspects, tyres squealing as drivers wrench the wheel. It’s cinematic, urgent, and clear: the hero cop closes in.
Myth vs reality
Myth: Constant bumper-to-bumper tailing with siren and blue lights.
Reality: Distance is managed to reduce risk; sirens may be used sparingly; the pursuit is continually risk-assessed and can be aborted at any time.
Myth: Aggressive, heroic driving wins the chase.
Reality: Only trained police drivers may pursue, and they follow strict rules. The pursuit is terminated if risk outweighs benefit.
Myth: The chase ends in a dramatic takedown.
Reality: Many pursuits are terminated early. There has to be a plan to safely end every pursuit.
How pursuits are actually managed
Real life isn’t like that. The rules are set out in the College of Policing’s Authorised Professional Practice (APP) on police pursuits.
Firstly, pursuits are commanded by a senior officer (usually an inspector in the control room—the role I had). Only trained police drivers may pursue - and they are assessed over several days of rigorous training. I completed this course; it isn’t easy to pass. And pursuing officers can only be in certain types of vehicle - marked cars, not vans.
During a pursuit, it is the responsibility of the driver and the commander to continually assess the risk posed to the general public, the officers, and the suspect(s), and to consider whether the pursuit should continue. Anyone involved (including the radio controller) can abort at any time if they think the risk is too great. While pursuing, the police driver (or their crewmate) must provide calm, continuous commentary and regular risk assessments. Meanwhile, the commander considers if the pursuit is necessary - are there other ways of finding and arresting the suspect? Do the benefits of catching the suspect justify the risks? And if it is deemed necessary, how the pursuit can safely be brought to a conclusion as soon as possible; if there’s no safe way to do that, they must abort it.
Why it was still my bête noire
So with all these safeguards in place, why were pursuits my bête noire - the activity I most dreaded during my shift?
Because there are so many unknowns. So many aspects you simply cannot plan for. You cannot know what members of the public, who are unknowingly going about their business in vehicles or on foot, might do. You cannot predict what the suspect might do. Suspects trying to escape are not thinking rationally and are capable of almost anything, no matter how dangerous, to get away. You almost certainly don’t know where they’re heading next - whether they might drive at speed past a school at 3pm, into a pedestrianised shopping street, or off a bridge. And while the risk might be assessed as low one moment, the very next second they could start driving in a way that elevates it to high. The whole picture can change in a heartbeat.
And if anyone is hurt, even the suspect, it usually triggers an investigation into the conduct of the officers involved, including the commander in the control room. If the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) gets involved, that investigation can drag on for years, with possible sanctions hanging over officers, who may be on restricted duties in the meantime.
It’s no wonder that, as a control room inspector, I sweated whenever a pursuit started. I was very experienced at managing risk and making decisions on limited information, but the unknowns gave me nightmares.
The human stakes
This is why I dreaded the words “pursuit initiated”. Not because of the police driving, but because of the unknowns - and the knowledge that any pursuit can become a tragedy in a heartbeat. That’s also why the rules exist, and why screen chases rarely show the real, human stakes.
