Obviously, police chases will be controversial; every police officer who engages in one knows the potential for second-guessing, especially if someone is hurt or killed.

As Barrie Police and Special Investigations Unit (SIU) officers continue to piece together what caused a driver to speed away from cops in the Yonge Street-Huronia Road area Wednesday night, police media spokesperson Sgt. Dave Goodbrand reminds residents of the split-second nature of the decision to pursue a fleeing, and just as importantly, when to call it off.

“Every scenario is different,” Goodbrand tells Simcoe.com. “The thing any officer has to weigh up is the risk to the public.

“Obviously, if it’s the middle of the day, on a street where there’s a lot of vehicular or pedestrian traffic, a pursuit would be called off relatively quickly. The exceptions might be if it involves someone who’s killed somebody, or, say, an out-of-control vehicle that’s trying to hit somebody.”

A lot depends, of course, on the judgment of the officer at the wheel of the cruiser, or his or her supervisor.

“If it’s just a minor traffic offence,” Goodbrand continues, “the pursuit will be called off if enough information can be found on either the licence plate or a description of the vehicle involved, which is most often the case.

“But always,” he concludes, “the key factor is risk to the safety of the public.”

The SIU probes police-related incidents in which citizens are injured or killed. A 43-year-old Barrie man was fatally struck during the chase.