POLICE and Emergency Services Minister Simon Corbell says he has full faith in the ACT’s police force and will not be supporting the Greens’ proposal for a new car chase policy.

Last year, the ACT greens proposed a 24 month trial of an updated policy for police to only chase for serious crimes such as murder, rape or aggravated robbery. Since then, the Greens has received 10 submissions commenting on the proposed trial. Of the 10 submissions, six supported the proposal.

Both the Government and the opposition opposed the plan with Corbell has shrugging off the suggestion, saying the Government supports the rights of police to be able to determine when to pursue an offender.

“Police do not pursue on a matter of course, they make an assessment as to the safety of the public and the nature of the incident they are attempting to address,” he said.

Mr Corbell said the police are well-trained, use their discretion and are “very careful on the application of pursuits”.

“Nothing that the Greens has released today changes anything,” he said.

“It’s a statement of their view, a view that the Government rejected last year and our position remains unchanged.”

Liberals spokesperson Jeremy Hanson, unusually agreed with the Government, saying “the Greens attempt to weaken existing pursuit laws would hinder the police in their ability to enforce a range of offences”.

“This stance shows once again that the Greens are completely out of touch with police requirements and community priorities,” he said.

“Policing bodies and the community agree that police should be free to exercise their judgement when engaging in police pursuits.

“An independent community survey of 437 Canberrans commissioned by the Australian Federal Police Association last year shows overwhelming community support for police pursuits, with 66.4 percent in support and only 15.8 per cent against.

“The ACT Green’s so-called ‘community engagement’ on this issue lacks rigour and credibility, and the Canberra Liberals will not support the Green’s attempts to weaken what is an important tool for our police in maintaining the safety of the ACT.”