Police acknowledge the IPCA’s findings in relation to the death of Michael McClelland in Dunedin in May 2023.

Mr McClelland was a passenger in a stolen vehicle that crashed a short time after being involved in a pursuit with Police in the early hours of 26 May.

The IPCA found Police staff were not justified in pursuing the vehicle under the policy that was in place at the time, however they appropriately abandoned the pursuit once it became too dangerous.

The IPCA also concluded that the officer’s driving was not a direct cause of the crash which killed Mr McClelland.

Southern District Commander Superintendent Jason Guthrie says Police also conducted its own investigation into the matter.

“This was a fast-moving and dynamic incident which lasted a matter of a couple of minutes, where staff were required to use split-second judgment.

“Police’s investigation reached the same conclusion as the IPCA’s investigation – that our officer’s driving did not directly cause the vehicle to crash.

“We acknowledge there were elements of the incident where policy was not followed, and we have had conversations with our staff involved reminding them of those policies.

“We note, as the IPCA did also, that this incident occurred some days before our pursuit policy changed, and our wider staff have since received additional training around this.

“We would also like to acknowledge Michael’s family and the grief they must still feel, and extend our sympathies to them.”

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