POLICE in County Durham have been ordered not to chase criminals at speed amid safety fears about the high-powered BMWs they drive.
Durham Constabulary has joined forced across the country to introduce a 'no pursuit policy' after concerns were made about the cars following the death of a PC in Cumbria.
The directive, which is said to ban pursuits over the speed limit unless there is an immediate threat to life, was implemented after PC Nick Dumphreys died when a BMW police vehicle caught fire during a 999 call in Cumbria in 2020.
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The type of high-powered BMW PC Dumphreys was driving is commonly used by traffic cops and firearms officers.
The Chronicle reported in September that Northumbria Police had already withdrawn the BMWs from its fleet as a 'precautionary measure'.
And Durham Constabulary has today confirmed that it is carrying out a review of its vehicles. But a spokesman said the force was confident the service provided by officers would not be diminished.
A spokesman said: "We are aware of a reported problem affecting some police vehicles across the country and have already taken steps to ensure the safety of both our officers and the public, including a review of our fleet to ensure that any potential issues are swiftly identified and addressed.
“Durham Constabulary remain confident that service delivery will be maintained while this review is being carried out.”
BMW has told national newspapers that the problem only relates to police vehicles due to the way they are driven and civilian drivers are not affected.
Northumbria Police confirmed that it had scrapped its fleet of BMW X5s, which the Chronicle understands were used by traffic officers and armed response teams.
The force said the vehicles had been replaced and that the change did not impact on police's ability to respond to incidents.
However, in September, a source told the Chronicle of concerns that the replacements were inadequate, and that this could put the public at risk.
They said motor patrols officers and armed response teams were using vehicles that are not powerful enough for the work they do, with Vauxhall vans and Ford Rangers being used as armed response vehicles (ARV) and Peugeot estate cars with 1.2L engines being used by traffic cops.
But a Northumbria Police spokesman said: "Following a review of our fleet, the force took a precautionary measure to withdraw a limited number of vehicles from use.
“These were replaced with other vehicles and at no point reduced our ability or capacity to respond.”
PC Dumphreys, 47, had been on a 999 call when the tragedy happened.
A pre-inquest review heard how his car had been returned to the Cumbria Constabulary's vehicle management unit at least four times in the month before he died.
