THE SPEED dial touched 120 mph as the ‘stolen’ car I was travelling in raced up the M1 being pursued by a police car with flashing lights and a wailing siren.
Moments earlier, our two-litre turbo-charged Mercedes 350 E hybrid had zigzagged through red lights overtaking buses on the wrong side of the road in a built-up area of North London.
The marked tailing police three-litre BMW Hybrid 530d xDrive kept pace the whole time, patiently holding back before gaining ground at the opportune moment.
To watching motorists and pedestrians it appeared to be a real police chase. Some gave hostile glares at the ‘subject vehicle’ in which I was riding in the front passenger seat.
One civic-minded dustcart driver even pulled out sharply on our car to try and block our path.
But the drama they were witnessing was a training exercise with a veteran Met driving instructor, John Conlon, behind the wheel of our Mercedes.
The police car behind us was being driven by an anonymous undercover officer working on a specialist Met squad.
He was being put through his paces by another experienced instructor, Pc Dom Sheer, as part of his advanced pursuit training.
Instructor John says: “This is as close to a real pursuit as we can get in an open environment.
“Sometimes it will look to the public as if it is a genuine pursuit and some may potentially get involved.
“They might pull out in front of you and go on the brakes to block you in.
“We occasionally also get colleagues joining in a pursuit.”
John, a retired police officer who works in a civilian capacity for the Met’s Driving Academy, advises any motorists caught up in a police pursuit to pull over at the next available safe point.
Sun videographer Max Molyneux and I were invited by the Met to ride along to witness the intensity and high quality of the training.
My heart was in my mouth as we started the first of three 20-minute training exercises, but I was quickly reassured by the professionalism of John’s driving and that of the pursuing officer.
“Safety is non-negotiable,” says Dom, a serving officer with 25 years’ experience.
He explains there are five different levels for most police drivers, starting with basic, then response who undertake a three-week course and can use lights and drive vans.
The next stage is advanced, in which cops often working with surveillance and specialist squads undertake a four-week course.
They can initiate a pursuit but must hand it over to an advanced pursuit driver to carry on the chase.
The final level is TPAC – tactical, pursuit and containment – used to end a chase under advice from control and often with guidance from helicopters scouring roads ahead for the safest options.
Dom says: “There needs to be a way of ending a pursuit. Boxing a car in or using a stinger. It’s the last resort.”
There is a continual dialogue between drivers and the control room, where banks of screens relaying CCTV feeds and maps help warn police pursuers of potential obstacles and the geography ahead.
The student driver – taking an annual assessment course – provides a running commentary advising control of his speed, weather conditions and a low to high risk assessment.
POLICE IN ACTION
Police drivers have exemptions to go through most red traffic lights, cross onto opposite carriageways and ignore left signs when necessary. They are barred from ‘No Entry’ zones.
Their key consideration under the law is making sure their actions are proportionate.
Awareness of surroundings is an essential necessity, a point highlighted when a woman pushing a pram while wearing earbuds and talking on a phone starts to step off a traffic island in front of us, oblivious to the police training pursuit taking place.
John uses his own emergency siren to warn her, saying: “You have to be alert and think ahead. Tourists sometimes look the other way when they are about to cross the road.”
Police drivers use their equipment tactically with short-burst sirens deployed at roundabouts. Dom says: “It is used to create a clear path.”
But John adds: “The traffic dynamic means you can’t use sirens and lights all the time.
“You have to let the traffic move normally and take advantage of it.”
The training pursuit leaves the urban confines of North London to head out onto the M1 into Hertfordshire.
The student is holding back, keeping the subject vehicle in view while giving himself options – known as a system gap.
It pays dividends as our subject car driven by John appears to go off at a junction before rocketing back onto the motorway at high speed.
Special care must be taken when the car being chased comes to a stop, with police vehicles getting up as closely behind as possible.
Dom says: “As a police driver, I need to close in on the subject car.
“If he comes to a stop I will be behind. But I have to minimise the risk of him reversing into me. That means getting tight when it is stationary.”
Blues and twos are switched off in congested situations, allowing officers to get out of their vehicles and arrest drivers by smashing in windows if necessary.
Intense levels of concentration are required for police drivers involved in pursuits. I am drained after spending just one hour in a passenger seat watching them behind the wheel.
The Home Office is currently carrying out an accountability review to assess whether frontline police, including drivers, should have more legal protection because of the risk they take on behalf of the public.
Tragedies have occurred as a consequence of police pursuits and mistakes, though rare, do happen and therefore must be investigated.
But from the evidence I have seen, it is impossible not to be impressed by the training and skills of police drivers protecting the public when two tons of metal is being driven dangerously at high speed by joy riders and criminals.