The Independent Police Conduct Authority has released its findings into an incident in Gore last year that resulted in a police patrol car and two Glock pistols being stolen.

The authority has found that if the police officer driving the vehicle had removed the keys from the ignition the theft of the car and two Glock pistols would have been prevented. However, at the time, there was no specific policy requiring officers to remove ignition keys when leaving a police car unoccupied.

On 14 August 2019, a man drove past two officers in a car that was missing its front grill and number plate. Officers caught up with him when he stopped in a residential street. They parked behind him, and the man reversed ramming the front of the police car before getting out and running into a residential property. Two officers chased him.

As he ran back onto the street, the man got into the driver's seat of the patrol car, which still had its keys in the ignition. The key to the vehicle’s firearm safe was on the same key ring. Despite efforts by the officers to stop him, the man was able to drive away. He rammed a second police car before abandoning the patrol car in a nearby street. He took with him two Glock pistols from the locked box in the patrol car.

The man was arrested three days later. One of the pistols was recovered at the time of his arrest, and the other one was located three months later.

Authority Chair, Judge Colin Doherty, said the officer was focused on apprehending the offender in a fast-moving situation. 

“He inadvertently forgot to remove his keys from the patrol car, which unfortunately enabled the man to steal the car and the pistols locked in it," he said.

Judge Doherty concluded the officer did not breach any policy by leaving the keys in the police car ignition. 

“However, he should have removed them and his failure to do so enabled Mr X to steal the car and the Glock pistols,” the report says. 

Although it was the officer’s responsibility as the driver to ensure he removed the keys from the patrol car the report says the Authority “is mindful of the circumstances giving rise to this omission”.