Police commissioner stares down union over e-bike pursuit boycott

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NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon has urged parents to take greater responsibility for their children’s e-bike use as the union asks officers to stop pursuits.

Parents need to take greater responsibility for their children’s dangerous e-bike use, NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon declared, as he faces a revolt over pursuits.

The Police Association of NSW has directed officers to no longer pursue dangerous riders on e-bikes and motorbikes after two officers were charged after allegedly hitting a woman in a marked police car and knocking her from her bike. It is alleged the officers left the scene without rendering aid.

Lanyon and NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley on Wednesday voiced their disagreement with the powerful Police Association and reminded officers of their oath.

“The NSW Police Force obviously work for their commissioner. The police have an oath of office, and they’ll continue to do that,” Lanyon said.

Association president Kevin Morton argued police were not afforded enough protections to pursue e-bikes without fearing criminal prosecution.

“There comes a point where enough is enough. That point has now been reached,” he said.

The NSW government faces pressure to follow through on its promised e-bike safety reforms to establish an age limit for their use.

Transport Minister John Graham commissioned an expert report into potential age limits which was handed to him in June, however, the minister will not make a decision on the ban until next year.

The government has also refused to release the findings of the report, meaning parents buying e-bikes as gifts for their children this Christmas have no way of knowing whether it will be legal for their children to ride them next year.

مطلع المقال، مقتطف من The Sydney Morning Herald. لقراءة المقال كاملًا، افتحه على موقع الناشر.