Police have responded after they were accused of 'doing nothing' when a biker was driving dangerously down a Leeds road.
A video, that has since gone viral, racking up over 275,000 views, was posted by Craig Harper on Facebook and shows a passenger filming the police car driving through Leeds city centre before a dirt bike appears in front and begins doing various stunts.
West Yorkshire Police were called out on social media for not doing anything to stop the driver. However, the force has since responded explaining why the biker wasn't apprehended at the time.
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The bike was seen coming under the tunnels through the centre driving next to the police before they turned onto the A58 westbound towards the Armley Gyratory. At first the driver was ahead of the patrol car, before they pulled up alongside and began 'taunting' the officers doing wheelies and appearing to force the police car to brake.
The force say that motorbike pursuits are only possible by specially trained officers in a suitable vehicle. Due to the nature of this driver, officers made a 'tactical decision' to de-escalate the situation.
In a statement, West Yorkshire Police said: "The pursuit of motorbikes is permitted in West Yorkshire only by officers trained to the required level in a suitable vehicle.
"Any potential pursuit situation must be appropriately assessed with full consideration given to the safety of members of the public, the officers involved and the rider of the motorbike.
"We are still looking into the circumstances of this incident, but we have been able to establish that the officer involved had activated body-worn video to capture footage of the suspect and the manner of driving, before making a deliberate tactical decision to deviate from their route to de-escalate the risks around a situation involving a rider who was clearly already driving dangerously and had a high probability that he would fail to stop.
"We are aware of the level of public concern that motorbike-related crime and anti-social behaviour causes in our communities and continue to target the issue through a range of proactive operations, alongside our partner agencies.
"We are carrying out enquiries to identify the rider involved in this incident and would ask that anyone who recognises him or who has any information that could assist contact officers via 101 quoting reference 13230173212 or online live the live chat facility. "
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