Before requesting or granting authorisation for a pursuit, what must be considered?

• A. Alternative action must be considered.
• B. Immediate pursuit should be started.
• C. Control room staff should be informed only after pursuit begins.
• D. Vehicle pursuit should be escalated to police helicopter immediately.

Answer: (A)

The key idea is weighing safer options before you authorise a pursuit. Pursuit carries significant risk to the public, the suspect, and officers, so the decision to chase should only be made if it’s necessary and proportionate. Before requesting or granting authorisation, you must actively consider alternative actions that could achieve the same policing objective with less risk. These alternatives might include containment tactics, road blocks, or other non-pursuit methods that prevent the vehicle from escaping while reducing danger. If a viable alternative exists, pursuing becomes unnecessary or should be paused until safer options are ruled out.

Starting a pursuit immediately ignores the opportunity to minimize risk through safer methods, and it isn’t consistent with prudent decision-making. Involving control room staff is important, but they should be engaged as part of the decision process—not only after a pursuit has begun. Escalating to a helicopter immediately is a resource-intensive step that should be reserved for clear necessity after evaluating alternatives and risks, not used as the first default action.

So, the emphasis is on considering safer, effective alternatives first; only if those aren’t viable should pursuit be authorised.