The WA Police Union has called for a ban on car chases from its members until the policies surrounding police pursuits are reviewed.
But the move has prompted concerns from police that criminals may take advantage of the moratorium on pursuits to get away with crime.
"What we don't want is for offenders to feel like it's a good time to take on police," WA Police Acting Commissioner Kylie Whiteley told ABC Radio Perth.
"We do have incidents where stolen vehicles do ram police.
"Certainly, we want officers to continue performing their role."
WA Police Union (WAPU) acting president Paul Gale said he had called for the "moratorium" on pursuits, alleging officers were being pressured into using pursuit tactics they had not been trained for.
He said police were being encouraged to employ manoeuvres known as the "boxing-in" technique and the "pit manoeuvre" to stop the cars of fleeing suspects.
But he said those tactics were not protected by policy, and his members risked being found in breach of policy and even the law if they were used.
"They're being encouraged and authorised by our police operation centre to use a method that is not within the commissioner's policy, and as soon as we're outside the commissioner's policies then we're subject to possible criminal offences," Mr Gale told ABC Radio Perth.
"For their own protection, until a complete review is done, I am asking our members to not engage in pursuits, until the agency commits to a review to looking at what it is that needs to be more flexible to allow our officers to actually do the job properly.
"If we're going to allow our officers to engage in this type of activity, we need to ensure that our officers are protected legally, they have the requisite training to do this, and [they have] the requisite vehicles to actually engage in this type of activity."
The union also remains locked in an ongoing dispute with the government over pay and conditions.
Union questions pursuit probe
Mr Gale said the industrial action had been prompted by the investigation of 26 officers involved in an evade police incident in December, when an allegedly armed offender was apprehended after several hours on the run by police who used a "boxing-in" technique.
"As a result of the resolution of that incident, we now have 26 officers being investigated for actions they did in trying to bring that incident to a complete halt," he said.
"If they're not following protocol, absolutely they should be investigated, but we're talking mainly administrative facets to the policy."
Acting Commissioner Whiteley said the investigation was not unusual, and the officers involved had the support of her and WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch.
"This incident is quite an extreme example of some of the evade police incidents that we incur within the agency," she said.
"What I will say is there has been an administrative review in relation to this matter. There isn't 92 issues, there's 88 issues, those issues have been provided to the metropolitan portfolio.
"They have allocated seven frontline officers who are seasoned investigators, and frontline officers will contemplate whether those officers have in fact breached any policies or committed any offences."
Ms Whitely said the evade police incident policy was regularly reviewed, had been reviewed recently, and had been examined in many coronial inquiries.
"The 'boxed-in' technique, I just want to point out, it is very dangerous," she said.
"What we don't want to do is become a US-style police force."
Ms Whiteley said it was not clear what "flexibility" the police union wanted to have put into the policy.
But she said the findings from the review of last December's large pursuit would inform any potential changes to policy or training.
