ODT filesA police chase and subsequent manhunt in Gore could have been prevented if an officer had not left keys in the ignition of a patrol vehicle, an independent report says. Hori Gemmell stole a police car, two police glock pistols and then rammed another police car in the Southland town shortly before midnight on August 14 last year. The chase was sparked after Gemmell drove past two officers in a car that was missing its front grill and number plate. At the time of the incident, there was no specific policy requiring officers to remove ignition keys when leaving a police car unoccupied. Southern District Police have undertook a review of its practices and made improvements to the manual handling of car and gun safe keys.

Source: Otago Daily Times July 01, 2020 22:52 UTC